Voice Entry
by 1Aryana
Summary: The Enterprise has a mission to check out Olduvai and retrieve any and all data. What will be there for them to find? Or will this, hopefully for once, be an easy and peaceful mission? Now that's doubtful. Genres picked out of random because I didn't want to think too much about it.
1. Chapter 1

**LOOK! I'M POSTING ANOTHER STORY! WOO! Anyway, this is similar to my Artemis Sharp story in a way, but I wanted to write it with a few key points changed... Drastically might I add. So, do enjoy it. I have all of this written and there are going to be 7 chapters total. ^^**

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Voice Entry 115

Okay… so the C.O.s have been on me to keep using this stupid log. Great, just great. Because we all know how fun they are. Anyway, shore leave has been canceled 'cause we got a game. I'm the first to know about it of course since I have to come in from a different bunker. Stupid guys think I have to be separated. I mean, I haven't even met most of the guys! I know Sarge and Reaper and that's about it. Right, that's not the point. Anyway. I'm in the chopper now heading to UAC to go through the Ark. I'll probably get there and go through first.

Voice Entry 116

So… guess this thing can be useful when bored at least. I met with this guy Pinky and got the cam up and running. I'm ready to go, so where are they? Guess I'll go look around or something…

Voice Entry 117

So some people came through the Ark. I see Reaper and Sarge so I guess it's the entire team there. I'll go meet with them… what the hell?

Hello, we're on a level five quarantine so I'm just going to have to strip search you…

That's enough Portman! Glad to see you made it Scythe. Pinky set you up?

Yes sir. Ready to roll. Oh shit… Is this thing still on?

Voice Entry 118

I met everyone. Happy times all around. Blah blah blah. Now for the more enjoyable part. We're entering the facility to basically pick up our science homework while figuring out what happened and eliminating the threat. About time. I hated the introductions. And I all ready think Portman's an annoying, useless pervert. Hope I get paired with Reaper. I know how to work with him at least.

Voice Entry 119

Okay. I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to like this stupid thing. Carmack was found and then we took a little trip into the sewers to find the thing roaming around. Damn it's huge. And ugly. And murderous since now… what was his name? Goat I think. He's dead. Reaper wasn't happy about losing him. Sarge wasn't either of course. And now Sam gets to work on it. As for me, I'm going around again looking for the one that Reaper said he shot at since it wasn't the one that's dead.

Voice Entry 120

Damn it! Portman and Destroyer are dead. And… Mack. And apparently Goat killed himself because he was turning into one of those things! And Carmack is now one too and stuck in the wall. Well… Sarge shot him… but he's still in the wall right now. This is messed up. We're leaving Sam here to finish getting the data, as screwed up as it is, while we go stop that thing from getting through the Ark.

Voice Entry 121

I found it and have it sort of trapped in a room. Others are on their way here. Hope they get here soon. I can't see it and- NO! AHHH!

Get it! Leave her there! She's dead! Go go go! Don't let it through the Ark!

Ark activation in five, four, three, two, one. Ark travel complete.

….. *Automatic shut off now occurring*

Voice Entry 122

Ow… Damn that hurts. What happened? Where is everyone? …The Ark! I have to get to the Ark! … Is that Sarge? Oh no… he must have been infected and thrown back through the Ark to here. An ST grenade?! But that'll blow the Ark! Shit!

Voice Entry 123

Well… The Ark is blown and I'm stuck here. And judging by how my injuries are gone, it looks like I have that screwy 24th chromosome too… Guess I'll have to figure out how I can survive. There's enough technology around here… I'm sure I can figure something out. And I guess… there were those animals. And since I'm gonna be stuck here a while… Guess I'll become cannibalistic. Just… don't think about it too hard.

Voice Entry 124

I love this log! It's going to be my best friend! I've cut everything up and dried it out so I have jerky of questionable origin and whatever food had been left here. Oh, and the ever friendly monsters, including the rats, infected or not. Well… I have my safe spot guarded well and everything I need to camp out here for the rest of my life.

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**Well, that's all the voice logs for this story! I though I should just post them by themselves instead of with the starting of the story. Reviews are always welcomed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**And now, the real story begins...**

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**200 years later: Reaper as McCoy**

Jim walked into sickbay with a grin, making Bones glare at him for the second time that day. Jim ignored it and sat down on a bed, trying to get in the way. He finally jumped down with his hands up when Bones waved a hypo at him.

"Sorry, sorry! Geez, you're worked up today. You do this every year on about this day. Any chance of you telling me why?"

"What do you want Jim? And don't say you're just here to see me."

"Why not? I could be."

"Get out." Jim laughed.

"Okay, you got me. I was going to tell you about some orders that just came in. We're going to check out this old facility called Olduvai. Apparently there had been some hazard like 200 hundred years ago and they think it should be clear now. We're supposed to make sure it's safe and retrieve any data we can. It was a science facility after all. We should get there tomorrow morning, so get some sleep!" Bones stopped moving and stared at Jim for a while until Jim put a hand on his shoulder. "You all right Bones? Need to sit down or something?" Bones shook Jim off and went to his office, grabbing some brandy on the way. Jim called after him but Bones waved him off and took a drink, knowing Jim would leave him alone.

He sighed and looked down at the bottle, reminding himself that after 200 hundred years everything had to be dead. The data was probably gone by now too. He shook his head and downed the rest of the bottle before heading back to his quarters.

The next morning he woke up to Jim walking in. He groaned and turned back over, throwing a pillow at him in the process. Jim laughed and sat on the bed.

"Don't be like that Bones! Get up, come on! We're going to Olduvai today!" Bones bit his lip as he made sure to not throw him off the bed.

"Get out Jim. I'm getting up." Jim jumped up and grabbed Bones arm to help him up. Bones just pulled him down onto the bed, shoving him over as he got up.

"No need to be mean Bones. I was just letting you know we're beaming down in 30 minutes." Bones grunted and went to shower.

"I'm not going anywhere without eating first."

Bones met Jim, Spock, and four redshirts in the transporter room. He double checked to make sure he had all his gear, including the knife hidden away, before bothering to join them up there. Jim clapped him on the shoulder and Scotty made sure they were ready before beaming them down to the dig outside of the facility.

"Sorry Cap'n, but I can't beam you into the building. You'll have to get in on your own."

"Thanks Scotty, just keep a fix on us."

"Can't if you go in that building Cap'n. I might be able to communicate with you, but that'd be it."

"All right Scotty. We'll come back here when we're ready to beam out."

"Aye Cap'n. Scotty out." Jim flipped the communicator closed and turned to everyone.

"Everyone ready? We should fan out and search the facility." They heard something fall behind them and everyone turned to see a girl that looked starved, and a bit crazy. She walked slowly up to them until she was close enough to touch them. She poked Jim a couple times before turning to stare at Spock for a minute. Finally she jabbed him quick on his arm. Spock didn't move except to flinch minutely.

"Is there a reason that you struck me?" She blinked and swept a look over them again.

"How odd… You're real…" She paused for a moment, "Guess you should come inside then. I can get you some… tea." She walked past them and into the building, looking back only long enough to make sure they were following her.

"Well… come on, we might as well. I mean, if there are people living here…" Bones grabbed his arm.

"I don't think there's anyone other than her here Jim." Bones walked past him almost in a state of shock, the rest following. They followed her to what used to be the armory. It looked like everything had been torn out and then reshaped to suit other needs. Scythe had grabbed three earthen cups and four earthen bowls, apparently collected from the dig outside. She finally set out a military issued cup as well before wandering off and pulling water from a hole. She hung the bucket over a fire pit and started to try and make a fire. Jim went up to help her, but startled her and was thrown back. She waited until the water was hot and was pouring it before she looked at them again.

"Sorry, sorry. You shouldn't sneak up like that… Not here… It'll get you killed. And no wandering off." She put some leaves in the cups, ending with a few mint leaves from the only growing thing there, into five of the dishes. Something that looked like coffee grounds went into the two other earthen dishes, and finally just mint leaves into her own. She gestured towards them. "Pick one each. It's safe. Hungry? I have jerky… and jerky… and a carrot… She started to hand out a piece of jerky each, stopping when Spock told her he was a vegetarian. She shrugged and handed him the carrot. Jim looked at the jerky curiously.

"What is this?"

"Jerky."

"Yeah I know that, but what's it made of?" She smiled.

"Meat… Of questionable origin. Eat it… It's safe." Everyone looked at the jerky and set it down instead. She shrugged, "Why are you here?"

"We were ordered to make sure this place was safe and to retrieve any data still here." Scythe dropped her cup.

"You're here to retrieve the data?"

"Yep. You know where it is?" She scowled.

"This place isn't safe. You should leave." Jim set his cup down.

"What do you mean? It can't be that bad if you're living here. By the way, are there any other people here?" She shook her head.

"Used to be… He's not really a person now… But you should leave. You have to leave… Now!" She rounded on them, trying to push them out, but they wouldn't go and she couldn't get them all.

"Why do we have to leave? It can't be that dangerous and we have to retrieve the data." She stopped and looked at him, slowly pulling out a knife.

"No… You can't have it… You can't take the data back to them! I'll… I'll have to kill you." Jim barely managed to avoid getting skewered, but she had the knife against his throat an instant later. "I'm sorry." Bones and Spock were the first to grab her and drag her away from Jim before she could kill him.

"Spock, Bones, wait! Leave her alone!" He went and knelt next to her after the knife was taken away. "Hey, I know there has to be a good reason for you to want us gone, and it apparently has to do with this data. Can you tell me what that reason is?" They heard a crash down the hall and Scythe twitched, grabbing Jim's arm.

"You must leave. No data, but alive if you leave now. Please… just go…" Jim shook his head.

"No. I want to know what's going on here." Another crash, closer now. Scythe shoved him away and stood.

"You have no time! You must leave now!" She tried to grab her knife back but Spock kept it away. "Give it back! We'll all die!"

"We can help you. Come on, just tell us what to do."

"Leave! This is my fight. My life... Give it back…" Jim sighed and looked at Spock.

"Give her the knife Spock, and everyone have your phasers ready." Spock reluctantly handed over the knife. As soon as she had it she shoved them all down and grabbed another from the floor before throwing herself through the door and tackling the monster as it tried to get in. Jim's eyes widened and he grabbed his phaser, trying to aim so as to not hit Scythe. Bones was watching the battle, trying to figure out who the monster was when Scythe was thrown away and it headed towards them. Two of the redshirts tried to rush it, instantly getting killed and thrown aside. Bones saw one get bit and groaned internally. Everyone started firing their phasers to no avail. Once the monster got too close and was about to hit Jim, Bones threw his knife, catching it between the eyes and making it stagger back enough for Scythe to leap on it again. Bones immediately went to Jim to make sure he was okay. Jim just pushed him away.

"We have to help her! Look at that thing, it'll kill her!" Bones held him down.

"And just what do you think you can do? The phasers won't work on it, and she obviously knew it was coming and was ready to fight it. She might have fought it before. Listen to me Jim, we'll probably only get in the way. The best we can do is get behind the table." Jim shook his head.

"I can't do that Bones. I have to help somehow. Hold on… Did you throw a knife at it?"

"Yeah. Had to get it away somehow." Jim nodded.

"Okay, then we just have to find other things we can throw." Bones groaned.

"And hopefully not hit her, right?"

"You didn't."

"She wasn't on it when I threw the knife. Damn it Jim! Just get behind the table! Spock, help me with him."

"If the Captain does not wish to move-"

"Oh shut up!" Bones looked up for a second before grabbing Jim and hauling him behind the table just as Scythe crashed into their spot.

"I can distract him. Get him out of the way. Run past and down the hall. Back the way you came… Leave…"

"No. We're not going to-" One of the redshirts screamed as he was attacked, the monster's tongue latching onto his neck. Jim and Bones got to him right after the tongue slipped off. Bones checked him over.

"Jim… He's not going to survive." They looked back in time to see Scythe launch herself at it again, tackling it and getting in a few thrusts of her knife. She managed to cut off a small chunk of its arm before it retreated. She turned back to them.

"Short fight… Everyone okay? Other than the one dead, two infected, and one apparently missing?" She went over to the two that were bit.

"What do you mean infected? We have three dead, and Sean is missing… What was that thing?" She shrugged and stabbed both men in the head before turning back to them.

"An old friend. Sarge… Well… an infected and mutated Sarge…" Jim stared at her.

"What do you mean by infected?" She didn't answer them right away, instead checking over her bloodied arm.

"… You should leave… Before I have to kill you… You can't take the data back…"

"I want to see this data." He held up a hand before she could protest. "I might not take it, but I want to know why." She watched him for a bit before walking away.

"Follow." Jim looked at Bones and Spock with a shrug and followed after her.

"Hey… I never found out your name." She didn't answer so he tried again. "What is your name?" She spared him a glance.

"My name… Codename… Scythe."

"Codename? What about your actual name?" She glanced down the hall before turning to him, grabbing him by the front of the shirt.

"Shut up. Every time you open your mouth you give away our position." Jim nodded and she let him go. Jim looked at Bones.

"She's a bit on edge, isn't she?" He jumped when a knife lodged itself into the wall next to his head. He looked shakily back at Scythe as she turned back to the hall. Bones shook his head and grabbed both Jim and the knife as he followed. Jim made sure to not make another sound until they all filed into what almost looked like an old fashioned sickbay and the door was closed behind them. Scythe pointed to a hole in the floor with what looked like dried blood around it.

"I would avoid that if I were you." They all gave it a wide berth, even though she walked right next to it. She led them to a computer and picked up some data disks, showing them to Jim. "This is what you were sent here for." She put one in, "This is why I can't let you have it." They watched as C-24 was injected and began to take effect. Bones steeled himself while he watched it, remembering Sam sitting there and Sarge next to him. He looked at Jim, relieved when he saw the horror on his face. Scythe took the disk out and handed them to Jim. "There you go. Your precious data." They watched as Jim turned it over in his hands before dropping it.

"I don't see any data. All I see is an unstable facility." Spock raised a brow.

"Captain? You have just dropped the data." Jim kicked it away.

"Spock. There's no data here. The facility is unstable and dangerous. That's what we're going to tell Starfleet, okay?" Spock waited a beat before nodding once.

"Yes Captain." Jim grinned and turned back to Scythe, who had a puzzled look on her face.

"You… aren't taking the data?"

"Nope. I want to get rid of it. I mean… why would they turn people into monsters?"

"It doesn't turn all people to monsters… Superhuman… chooses…"

"What do you mean?" She blinked and looked up at them clearly.

"Only some were turned to monsters. Others basically became superhuman. C-24… chromosome 24. Sarge is an example of the monster. I'm not."

"You have it?" She nodded.

"Of course… How else would I be here so long?" Jim slowly sat down.

"Just how long have you been here?" She blinked slowly, the clarity fading.

"Long… years… Too long… When this place was still okay… New…"

"New?! But this place is about 200 years old!" She shrugged.

"200 years… bet everything's different." She laughed suddenly, a dry, barking laugh. "I'm ancient now! This place was studying a civilization that was probably 200 years old!" She continued laughing, slowly turning into a half-sob. Jim stood back up and put an arm around a shoulder before looking up at Bones.

"We can't leave her here Bones. And we have to get out now." Bones nodded and continued watching his old friend as she stopped shaking and stood up.

"No… I can't leave here… Everything I know is here… Good and bad…"

"What's good about this place?" She smiled, a small, dreamy smile that was hardly a smile at all. Almost like she had forgotten how.

"Memories."

"Memories?! It looks like hell to me! What kind of memories of this place could be good?!" The smile vanished.

"Of my team. Of Sarge before he turned. Of the men I only knew for that mission. Goat, Portman, Duke, Destroyer, The Kid, Mack." She sighed. "This is the last place I saw Reaper too… I remember his name… John… John Grimm. His sister… Samantha worked here. Not with the testing though…" She stared at Jim. "I can't leave here. I only know here… And I'll forget them…" Bones sighed and finally spoke.

"You won't forget them Scythe." Her head snapped towards him, seeing him clearly for the first time. Her eyes widened in anger and grief before she launched herself at him, tackling him to the ground and hitting him even as Spock and Jim grabbed her.

"You! You left me here! You were alive and blew the Ark and left me here! You left me! Abandoned me! You stranded me here!" They finally pulled her off and Bones backed away. Jim shook her.

"Hey! Scythe! I don't know what you see, but he didn't do anything! He's our doctor, Leonard McCoy. We call him Bones, okay?" She stopped fighting him and stood still.

"Doctor… McCoy… Bones… He looks just like… Sorry… He must be a descendant…" She looked back at Bones sadly. "Sorry… You're hurt?" He shook his head.

"Bruised maybe. I'm fine." Jim let her go and she stumbled forward, heading to the door.

"I'll get you back to the dig…"

"Scythe? You should come with us." She shook her head.

"I can't…"

"You can. You'll come with us to the ship and then we can blow this place."

"Blow it… Blow it anyway. I'll stay here."

"I can't let you do that. And I won't blow it if you're still here. But if I don't blow it, then someone else will be sent here later and they might actually take the data with them."

"I won't let them."

"I can't let you stay here Scythe."

"I'll lead you back to the dig…" She walked away, grabbing the last knife there. They all followed her, Jim hanging back to walk with Bones.

"So… you look like her long lost friend." Bones didn't answer him, so he continued. "Maybe we could use that to lure her out with us."

"Or maybe you could have Spock nerve pinch her and not be cruel." Jim winced.

"Okay, okay. You're real touchy lately. What's wrong?" Bones sighed and looked up at Scythe.

"Well… If I tell you… I'll have to stay here with her." Jim shot him a glare.

"That's not funny Bones. What do you mean by that?" Bones sighed again and looked back at him.

"Exactly what I said." Jim scowled and looked back to Scythe.

"Fine, don't tell me." He went up to Spock instead. "Spock, when we get to the dig, I need you to knock her out. Nerve pinch her or something so we can take her with us."

"Captain, if she does not wish to go we have no right to force her."

"Spock. She's living solely because she doesn't want to give up. And she's only staying here because it's what she knows and it's the last place she saw her team. She's barely surviving here. If we leave her, she'll die."

"I still do not believe-"

"That's an order Spock." Spock inclined his head.

"…Yes Captain." They looked up when Scythe stopped suddenly. They had ended up next to the door to the dig.

"Go through these doors… Outside… Where you were…" Spock moved closer to her and she ducked, twisting away from him. "I am not going with you. I will not let you knock me out, or whatever a nerve pinch is for."

"You heard us."

"Superhuman…" Jim sighed.

"Please Scythe? I can't just leave you here."

"I can't leave… Sarge…" Bones twitched.

"You're staying here for him?! Are you mad?!" She scowled.

"You don't belong here! This is my place! A thing of the past! So like much of the past: forget about it. About me…" Jim went up to her, causing her to jump back, right into Spock who then proceeded to nerve pinch her.

"NO!" she called out as she slumped to the floor, reminding Bones all too much of when she had been supposedly killed.

"What are you doing?" Jim looked guiltily back at Bones.

"I couldn't just leave her here Bones, now come on." Spock picked Scythe up and they walked outside, Jim contacting Scotty to beam them up, making sure to let him know about their guest.

Once they got to the ship Bones had Spock carry Scythe to sickbay. He shooed everyone else out and put the restraints on her. He settled back to wait for her to wake up. It didn't take long. She woke up with a start, pulling against the restraints and frantically looking for a weapon. She stopped looking when she realized she couldn't move. She looked at the restraints in confusion before her training kicked back in. She stilled and looked carefully around the room, her eyes finally resting on Bones.

"Why am I restrained and where am I?"

"Jim backed you into Spock. He nerve pinched you, which only he can do because he's Vulcan. Vulcans are from the planet Vulcan and are touch telepaths. The nerve pinch knocked you out. You're restrained because I know you wanted to stay there and are considered dangerous."

"So I am a prisoner." Bones went over to her.

"No. Not at all Artemis. Never a prisoner if I can help it." She shot a harsh glare at him.

"Artemis… My name… I never told you that… I never told you that! You are Reaper! You lied to me!" She began to struggle again and he put a hand on her shoulder, kneeling down next to the bed.

"I never said I wasn't. Jim said that because he doesn't know." He paused and looked at her sadly. "I thought you were dead Artemis. I never would have left you if I thought otherwise."

"…I know… My log had been on when you and Sarge found me… I was surprised you hadn't shot me…" Her voice began to fade and she coughed. "I was dead… And had been bit…"

"You were bit?" She nodded slowly.

"Yes… They must have made a mistake…" She shuddered and coughed again. "What happened to the data? Sarge and Olduvai?"

"You haven't been out that long. He's still trying to figure out what to do. Talking it over with Spock and Scotty."

"Spock… He was there… Different… Scotty?"

"He's the head of engineering on the ship. Believe it or not, we're in space. You're on a star ship." She nodded.

"I believe it… Long time… Reaper, please… I need to go back… I can't stay here… I'm a relic from the past now… Wasn't able to move with time…"

"I'm sorry Artemis, but Jim won't let you go back to that hell. I won't either."

"Reaper…"

"I left you behind once Scythe. I'm not leaving you again. No soldier left behind, remember?" She pulled at the restraints again.

"These are good…"

"Vulcans are stronger than humans. And I figured if I ever needed to be restrained I should have at least one bed that'll hold me."

"Let me go…"

"Where?"

"Back…"

"No."

"So… I am a prisoner."

"No Artemis-"

"Don't call me that!" She began to thrash about. "You can't call me that! I haven't even been able to call me that for years!" Bones held her down.

"Okay! Okay Scythe! I'm sorry…" She stopped and began coughing again. He sighed and sat back in a chair. "Damn it." He grabbed a tricorder and began to run it over her.

"Reap- No… Bones… You moved with time… The evidence is there… I don't know you… And you don't know me… So don't…" She coughed again. "Don't feel sorry… You don't owe me anything…" She blinked at the small machine he was holding. "What's that?"

"A tricorder. It tells me what's wrong with you. A medical device."

"I'm fine." He shook his head.

"No, you're not. You're severely malnourished and dehydrated. If it wasn't for C-24 you'd be more dead than a pile of ashes."

"I'm over 200 years old, of course I'd be dead…"

"Even for a 17 year old. You're that bad. And for the record, I do owe you, if nothing else than because I let Jim force you here. And you're right, as usual. I have moved with time, but only because I have been given that opportunity. You haven't, and I feel guilty about that, but I can overcome it. However, you were, and hopefully still are, my friend and partner. And I believe you can adjust to this time. Of course where you would adjust is up to the Captain." He grabbed a hypo and put the tricorder away.

"What is that? Doctor?"

"It's called a hypospray. It's similar to a shot, just without the needle and more effective. This is basically vitamins."

"I don't need that…" Bones stuck her with it anyway, making her flinch.

"You thirsty?" She stared at the ceiling blankly before turning to him.

"I'm going to throw up." Bones immediately undid the first restraint and pulled a waste bucket out. She turned as soon as he pulled it out and retched.

"You okay?" She nodded.

"Sorry…" Her voice was more hoarse than before and she coughed again. "Please…"

"Please what?" She just coughed again and Bones got her some water. She sipped a small amount and tried talking again.

"Let me go…"

"Scythe?" She shook her head.

"Untie me…"

"Are you going to run or anything?" She paused before slowly shaking her head. Looking all the world like someone defeated and had given up. Bones sighed and undid the restraints, letting her sit up. She sat at the edge of the bed and stared at a wall.

"Bones... You're probably right, as always… I should be able to adjust… To learn…" Bones smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Good to hear. I'm sure you can. Now, you should probably get some rest. You're exhausted." She nodded once.

"Probably…" She paused for a moment. "You said you were my friend… still right?"

"Of course Scythe." She paused before suddenly turning and leaping onto him, wrapping thin arms around him and sobbing. He put an arm around her as the door opened silently. Jim stared at them for a moment before speaking.

"Am I interrupting?" Bones shook his head minutely and led Scythe back to the bed. She let go of him slowly and sat down without looking at Jim. Bones turned to him though.

"What do you need Jim?"

"Actually, we reached a decision about what to do, but wanted to run it by Scythe first, seeing as how I was outvoted on not letting her go back." He knelt next to her. "Scythe? It's up to you. Do you still want to go back there? We'll… We'll beam you back if you want us to." She looked up at Bones and then finally at Jim.

"What will happen… if I stay?"

"Well, then we'd have to contact Starfleet and let them know about you. We'd see how it'd go from there." She shook her head.

"No. They will test on me… The data will be remade… Through me… People will die because of me…"

"No. Starfleet wouldn't do that." Jim bit his lip. "I need at least one of the data disks." Her head shot up.

"Why?"

"So I can show Admiral Pike. He has power and position to help, and I know he'll want to, but he'd have to see the data." She shook her head slowly.

"And if he cannot help?"

"Then we'll figure something out then."

"If I stay… You must promise… if he cannot help… you must kill me."

"I can't do that Scythe."

"I won't stay here then… I must go back…" Jim cursed.

"Please at least consider other options."

"There are no other options. Unless you were considering stranding me on some planet instead of killing me?"

"No! No, of course not." She stared at him.

"You will not promise me… I made my decision… I will go back." Bones sighed as Jim groaned.

"All right. If things go wrong, we'll either kill you or strand you somewhere, okay?"

"You promise…?" He nodded slightly.

"Yeah… It's a promise. So?"

"All right… I'll stay… here." Jim grinned.

"Great! I'll get a team ready to go down to the planet to get the data and-"

"No."

"No? But I told you I needed at least one disk."

"Don't take a team down. I'll go get it and return to the dig so you can… beam." Jim paused.

"How can I be sure you'll come back?" She shrugged and Bones handed her the water again.

"You'll have to trust me…" She looked at the water and shook her head.

"No matter what's decided, you're not leaving my sickbay until you've drank at least this much." Jim sighed.

"Guess I don't have a choice. Okay, as soon as possible, you need to meet me at the transporter room."

"Where?"

"Bones can take you there." Jim left and Bones looked down at her.

"You realize that the longer it takes you to drink this, the more I'm going to find for you, right?"

"No." She grabbed the cup and gulped it down quickly. "I can go now?"

"I should probably make you wait so I know you're not going to throw it up or something." She shook her head.

"I won't… Just water…" He nodded.

"All right Scythe. You need anything to go back? Weapons?" She smiled hesitantly.

"A scythe would work." He laughed at the old joke about when they first met and she had one.

"Sorry, fresh out of those. I do have a knife though." She nodded, the smile fading as she stood up to follow him.

"Thanks... John." He nodded and grabbed the knife from his office before they left for the transporter room. Jim was waiting for them by the time they got there. He tried to smile but couldn't quite make it. She refused the phaser he tried to give her and stood on the receiving pad.

"Good luck."

"And don't forget to come back!" She nodded once and they beamed her down. She stood outside the dig for a moment before dashing inside. She stood inside the doors and looked back out, wondering if she should really go back. She shrugged, deciding to choose once she got the data. She found it without incident and shoved it down her shirt. She glanced around, running her hand along the familiar tables before shaking her head and leaving. She made it to the doors to the dig before she heard him. She turned back with a small smile.

"Hey Sarge… Guess we need to end this now… You're call… whether I leave here, or die here." She took the data out of her shirt and laid it carefully next to the door, another disk on the other side. She turned to the large monster watching her and drew Reaper's knife. They attacked simultaneously.

Jim paced in the transporter room, checking the monitor every ten seconds. Bones finally grabbed his shoulder after Scotty had told him to calm down for the umpteenth time. Jim tried to shake him off, but Bones just gripped harder.

"You're going to wear either the floor or my patience out Jim. And you'd better hope the floor goes first."

"Or what?"

"Or I'm going to sedate you."

"You have no reason to. And I'm the Captain, remember?"

"You're also focused too much on one girl that you just met. You're compromised Jim, and you know it. Now sit down and shut up." Jim sighed and slumped against a wall.

"But we won't even know if she decides not to come back. We can't track her in there. We could be waiting here for days."

"Jim. We'll wait two hours max, okay?"

"But what if-"

"If she's coming back, she'll be out within two hours." Jim nodded and looked back at the monitor.

Scythe slammed against a wall, glass and pottery slicing at her. She managed to twist away and gain her footing again. She raced for the knife again and managed to slide and grab it. She turned in time to see Sarge take a swipe at her, catching and breaking her arm so the knife went flying again. She flew into another wall, clutching onto her arm and snapping it back into place so it could heal straight. She dodged the next few strikes, managing to kick him back long enough to find the knife again. Sarge attacked as she turned, swinging the knife around.

Jim stared at the monitor desolately when Bones came up behind him. He sighed and patted Jim's shoulder.

"That's two hours Jim. We can't wait any longer for her." Jim cursed and slammed a fist onto the table.

"Damn it! Come on Scythe! Get out of there! Come on damn you!" Bones pulled him away from the monitor, letting Scotty take back over.

"That's enough Jim, let's go. Scotty, if you see anything living appear on that screen, beam it up. Just be ready to beam it right back if it's not her." Bones lead Jim out.

"Aye Doctor." Scotty turned to the monitor. "Come on Lass…"

* * *

**^^ Well? You like? Yes? No? Let me know!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hush now, the story is waiting...**

* * *

Scythe groaned and forced herself to sit up and look around. She didn't see anything and looked down. She was covered in blood and dirt. Her leg was twisted to the side and reaching up, she felt a lump and small crack in her skull. She let her arms slump back down before trying to twist her leg back into place. She soon gave up, lacking the strength to do any good. She glanced around again and realized that what she had thought was dirt or a table was actually Sarge. He wasn't moving and it took her a minute to figure out that he was dead. A sharp pang went through her chest at the thought, but the thought that Reaper was waiting for her to return buried it. She'd have time to think about it later, for now the priority was getting outside. She tried to move and groaned, falling to the ground in a heap. She whimpered slightly and forced herself to slowly crawl forward. She made it to the door and stopped, looking up at it and wondering how she would open it. She shuddered and leaned against it before reaching slowly to the side and grabbing the data. She took a deep breath and began to climb up the door. She finally stood on a shaky leg and got it open. She shuddered and fell down again before beginning to crawl outside.

Jim sat on the bridge, watching the crew get ready to blow up Olduvai and warp out of there. He twitched on occasion before giving up and walking out, gaining a raised eyebrow from Spock as he followed.

"Something is bothering you Captain."

"Thanks Spock, I hadn't noticed." This earned him another raised eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"Transporter room." Spock followed him out of the lift and then blocked his way.

"Doctor McCoy told me to take you directly to sickbay if you attempted to once again go to the transporter room. As such I must request that you follow me." Jim groaned.

"I am going to the transporter room. Move Spock."

"I cannot do that Captain. Doctor McCoy has ordered me to take you to sickbay as a medical override of your command." Jim scowled and tried to push past him.

"Get out of my way Spock." He managed to push past only to have Spock apply a nerve pinch to him and carry him to sickbay. Bones glanced over at them when they entered and waved at a bed at random.

"I was wondering how long it would take." He took another swallow of brandy and looked at Spock. "How much longer?"

"Approximately 1.43 minutes." Bones nodded and looked back at the brandy.

"Okay…" Spock turned and left. Bones took another swallow as Scotty called him.

Scythe lay outside of the door, feeling the sun and hoping she had made it far enough out, and in enough time. She closed her eyes and passed out.

Bones ran to the transporter room, barreling in and instantly going up to the pad. He gingerly brushed hair out of Scythe's face and checked her over.

"Help me get her to sickbay. Don't worry about jostling her, you can't make it any worse." Scotty went up and grabbed her, picking her up easily.

"She's a light one."

"Just hurry up." Bones was out the door and making sure the path was clear as Scotty came running behind him. They made it to sickbay easily and she was set down on the nearest bed. Bones pulled a table stacked with medical supplies over and began to run a tricorder over her. He had Scotty go to make sure Olduvai blew up. He leaned back after making sure the skull fractures were healing well and looked at her leg. Hoping she wouldn't wake up, he twisted it into place to let it heal. Then he started giving her hypos. Vitamins mainly, but also things to help with the loss of blood and anything else he could think of. He also gave her a few immunization shots. Done, he sank into a chair to wait for her to wake up. He looked over at Jim, knowing he would stay asleep for a while longer. He looked back at Scythe as her eyes slowly blinked open. She groaned slightly and turned her head.

"Bones?" She croaked out.

"I'm here Scythe. Glad you made it out in time."

"How close?" He sighed.

"Perfect timing, as always Scythe. Right at the last possible second." He paused and pulled his chair closer. "We're destroying Olduvai. You sure you're okay with that? With staying here with us?" She nodded shortly.

"Yes… With you." Bones smiled and patted her hand.

"We still have to talk with Starfleet, but yeah. What happened down there? Did you run into Sarge?" She looked away.

"Yeah… It's over… All over… I killed my commanding officer…" She shuddered again as it completely sunk in. Bones waved a hand over her face.

"He stopped being your commanding officer when he was infected and crazy. I took command. You destroyed a monster that had nothing of the original Sarge left. Look Scythe, you weren't there after we had gone back through the Ark, but Sarge had gone mad. He was killing everyone, infected or not. He killed The Kid, only because he refused to kill some people that hadn't even been really hurt." She glanced at him.

"But… why? Not everyone could be infected…"

"We told him that. He didn't care. His sole purpose was reduced to killing them all and taking the data back." She turned her head away from him.

"That idiot." She froze, her eyes widening. Bones looked at her curiously before he heard something.

"Bones?" He looked over to see Jim sitting up and staring at him with wide eyes. "What are you talking about Bones? How could you know any of that?"

"Jim… I think you're hallucinating. I've only been making sure she's okay. We just got her up here." Jim glared at him and swung his legs over the side to stand up. "Damn it Jim! You shouldn't be getting up!"

"And you should tell me what's going on." Scythe jumped off the bed and grabbed him.

"Doctor said to stay down. I came back for both of you… Jim… You have to be calm… I'll explain if I need to…" She wobbled and Bones grabbed her arm, keeping her steady.

"Okay Jim… I'll explain. But later, after she's had some rest and gotten some actual food in her, okay? Plus she needs a shower and some new clothes. If we can find any that'll fit. Then we should talk to Pike…" He trailed off and looked at her. "The data?" She looked down and uncurled her hand.

"Yes… It's fine…"

"Good. Then we'll talk to Pike and see how everything goes." Jim twitched in Scythe's hold.

"And just when do we get to the part where we talk about you?" Bones sighed.

"Why couldn't you just believe that you were dreaming or something?" Jim rolled his eyes.

"You should know me better than that. Of course… you're probably distracted by Scythe." Bones' hand twitched towards a hypo.

"Just what do you think you're implying Jim?" He pushed Scythe off and smirked.

"Nothing. So, care to fill me in? Because I want to know before we talk to Pike." Bones sighed.

"Fine, we'll talk before showing Pike the data. She still needs some sleep, food, a shower, and some clothes. I'll take her to my room to show her the shower and you can find her some clothes, okay? Just remember, she's small." Jim frowned, but nodded anyway.

"All right. I'll meet you in your room in ten minutes." Bones nodded and grabbed Scythe's arm, leading her away. She followed without protest until they got in his room.

"This is yours?"

"Yeah, come on, I was serious about a shower."

"I can't smell that bad... I was able to wash down there."

"I have no idea how you can't smell it, but you stink. And the water you had down there was horrible."

"I boiled it!"

"I believe you, however, you were also just in a fight and are covered in blood. Besides, it'll make me feel better." She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Of course Bones. As long as it makes you feel better." He grinned and grabbed her arm.

"Good. Now strip and step in. It's a sonic shower. Normally it wouldn't take any longer than ten minutes, but in your case… Well, we'll see." She scowled at him and carefully removed her clothes, taking way too long in Bones' opinion. He rolled his eyes and reached over, tearing them off.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Helping. We're getting rid of them anyway. Honestly, I'm amazed they haven't just fallen apart…" She finished stripping and looked back at him.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?" He shook his head.

"Damn… you really have starved… Nothing but skin and bones… literally." She looked down at herself in confusion.

"I'll be fine."

"Just get in the shower." She backed into it slowly at the sudden change in tone. He seemed angry for some reason. He waited for the shower to turn on before cursing and gathering up the dilapidated clothes. He had just thrown them away when Jim let himself in, carrying a stack of clothes.

"Okay. I had no idea what size she is, so I grabbed a couple different ones. You said small, so I made sure that nothing was bigger than what Uhura would wear. And I couldn't get much smaller than some of these because she's taller than a kid." Bones looked at the clothes that were being spread on the floor and shook his head.

"Too big."

"What? Even this one?"

"Even that one. She's been starving Jim. There's nothing to her." Jim frowned at the clothes.

"Well… There's nothing else. She'll have to deal with these until we can get to a planet that can make her some to size."

"All right. Take the three smallest sizes and put them on the bed. That's the best we can do." Bones chuckled as they heard Scythe yell at them.

"What the hell?! How do you stop it?! No damn you, turn off!"

"Third button down from the left Scythe!" There was a pause and then she walked out.

"Got it… Jim?"

"Whoa… Bones was right… You are starved. Well… I'll leave you two alone. Meet you in the cafeteria in about 15 minutes, okay?" She nodded and Bones smirked and turned to her.

"That proves it. You are completely starved."

"What?"

"You came out completely naked and Jim didn't stay to stare at you. The state you're in has taken over."

"I don't quite understand, but I don't think I care…" She swayed slightly and Bones went to steady her. She waved him off and stretched, bones cracking everywhere. Bones twitched.

"Did you just break something?"

"Maybe… Probably broke it back in place…" Bones grabbed her arm and twisted, breaking it easily. She jerked away, retaliating automatically and backhanding him. "Why? Why did you do that?" He rubbed his jaw slightly.

"Proving a point. Damn Scythe, no wonder you needed the knives so bad. You have little muscle left. Hardly any strength in that hit at all. And the fact that your arm broke so easily is such a bad sign." She backed away from him.

"You bastard… I am not weak!" She tackled him, but he caught her and held her down.

"I remember even in training where this was difficult. After we had been in RRTS for a while, it was a 50-50 chance of pinning you down. Now, not even a challenge."

"Let me go you bastard! Let me go!" She struggled under him until he shifted, breaking a few ribs. She gasped slightly and he got off her.

"Scythe…"

"Leave me alone Bones. My welfare is no concern of yours."

"Actually, as the CMO, it is."

"Only for the crew of this ship… I am not part of the crew…" Bones pulled her up.

"Not just for the crew. For anyone on this ship, and you are on the ship. And if nothing else, because we're friends, right?" She went over and looked at the clothes for a minute before grabbing at random and putting them on, feeling them hang loosely on her. She turned back to him.

"I'm not the same Bones. Neither are you."

"Doesn't mean we're not friends." She walked to the door.

"Where's the cafeteria? Jim's waiting." He sighed and opened the door.

"I'll show you, come on." She followed him closely, feeling everyone's eyes on her.

"Bones… we're still friends." He smiled as they walked into the cafeteria and headed towards Jim.

"Good to hear." Jim grinned as they sat down.

"So Scythe, anything you want to eat? What do you like?"

"Jerky and water?" Jim's smile faltered.

"I mean what do you like? Or liked? Not just what you're used to. You know, things before you were stuck there for 200 hundred years." She shrugged.

"Not sure. What can I have?"

"Anything. We have replicators."

"Replicators?" Jim blinked.

"Okay… Um… They synthetically make food. Almost anything."

"Bread?"

"Of course."

"Okay. Then I want a piece of bread." Jim paused.

"Is… is that it?" Bones looked at her.

"Of course it's not." She frowned.

"Milk?"

"Okay… anything else?" She shook her head.

"No." Bones stood up.

"I'm going to get you some food. You're going to eat it. And yes, it's going to be more than a piece of bread and some milk." She started to protest when Bones poked the arm that he had broken and walked off. She frowned and looked down at the freshly healed arm. Jim stared at her until she looked up.

"What?"

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." He groaned.

"Oh come on, I'm not an idiot. I know when something's happened" She shrugged.

"He decided to get me more food than is necessary, I was going to protest and he stopped me."

"I got that, but how did he stop you? All he did was poke you in the arm."

"Proving a point." Jim was about to ask more when Bones returned and set a tray in front of her. She stared at it before looking up at him in shock.

"That's a lot of food… Enough for a week at least…" Jim stared at her.

"But… that's a small meal. Like you're on a diet or something."

"She is on a diet of sorts Jim. Not being used to eating makes it harder to do so." Scythe stared at them both.

"You… want me to eat all of this? Small meal?"

"Yeah, eat it all. Or at least give it your best effort." Jim shook his head and stood.

"Well… hate to leave, but I have to get back to the bridge. You gonna be okay Scythe?" She nodded, her eyes never leaving the tray. Jim bit his lip and left.

"Come on Scythe, just try to eat it." She nodded and poked at it.

"What is it?"

"Nothing bad for you. It's all healthy. I figured you'd still be fairly health conscious, regardless of being on Olduvai for so long." She nodded.

"Yes… I never understood how you could eat a… triple bacon burger with cheese." She shuddered at the thought. "Horrible."

"Don't worry, I'm a bit more health conscious now. Probably from being a doctor." He smiled and pointed at her plate. "No more stalling. Eat." She scowled at the food and picked up some bread.

"Are you sure it's all healthy? Not… trying to fatten me?"

"Yes it's healthy this time. And yes, I am trying to fatten you up." She sighed and bit into the bread, swallowing hard.

"Full." He twitched.

"Scythe… Eat it. Now. Because if that's your best effort, you really are useless." She shot a sidelong glare at him.

"Mean. Is there a gym on this ship?"

"Yes, but you can't use it."

"Why?"

"You'll hurt yourself, and I don't need you burning off anything you eat." She sighed and finished the bread.

"Fine. I hate it when you have a point." He smirked.

"Sounds like you hate me all the time then."

"Not at all. Only on the… very rare occasions where your point is actually valid." She picked up a piece of the baked chicken and took a small bite to taste it. She paused and looked down at it.

"Something wrong?" She shrugged and finished it.

"I can't taste it." He groaned.

"That's not a good sign Scythe." She shrugged.

"It'll be fine… Get better... eventually." Bones patted her shoulder and stood up.

"I have to get back to sickbay." He turned to see who was around. "Sulu, can you come here?"

"Yes Doctor?"

"This is Scythe, the girl we brought up from Olduvai. Can you stay here with her and make sure she eats? I have to get back to work."

"Of course Doctor. Just make sure she eats right?"

"Feel free to talk to her. You like fencing and swords right? So does she." He walked away and Sulu sat down. She watched him warily before deciding he wasn't a threat and turning back to the tray.

"So, you like fencing? Are you good at it?" She turned to him and regarded him coolly.

"I've never actually fenced. There are rules to it." She turned back to the tray again and picked up something that looked remotely like fish.

"I could teach you if you'd like. I wouldn't mind having a fencing partner." She blinked at him and slowly smiled.

"All right. Normal swords right?" Sulu grinned and they launched into a discussion about different swords. Scythe kept eating as they talked until the tray was empty. She barely spared it a glance before pushing it out of the way and asking to see his sword, fascinated that it folds in on itself. He grinned.

"All right. I left it in the Botany lab. We'll go get it."

"Botany lab?"

"You like botany?"

"Very much so. I would love to see it."

"Let's go then." She followed him eagerly out of the cafeteria, neither one thinking of telling Bones first. Sulu explained about the different plants after showing her his sword. They were just discussing crossing two different species when the intercom crackled to life.

"Sulu and Scythe. Since you didn't feel the need to tell me you even left the cafeteria, let alone where you were going, get to sickbay. Now." They looked at each other and Sulu went to the door.

"We'd better go."

"He's mad." Sulu laughed.

"He's still the doctor, and you're his patient. Come on." She sighed and followed him.

"Doctor or not, he's mad." He just smiled and led the way. She made sure to stay behind Sulu when they got into sickbay. Bones twitched slightly.

"Where were you?"

"Sorry Doctor, I was showing her the Botany Lab."

"And didn't feel the need to inform me of the whereabouts of my patient obviously."

"Sorry."

"You can go Mr. Sulu." He nodded and left, giving Scythe a sympathetic pat on her shoulder. She sighed and looked up at him.

"Sorry?"

"No you're not. How was the food? Was I right about the training still in effect?"

"Training? … Oh, from when we were required to eat… Something about unconsciously eating while in an adequate conversation, right?"

"No, the training in the park." He rolled his eyes at her and she smiled.

"I liked that training. It was… unique." His mouth tried to quirk up into a smile, but he managed to stop it.

"Maybe we'll do something like that again one day. And yes, the conversational eating was what I had referred to in the first place."

"Yes, it worked. I ate the entire plate, and I'm not even sick over it. Aren't you proud?"

"Extremely. Now all you need is some good sleep and then we can tell Jim the truth."

"Are you nervous?" He shrugged.

"Can't be helped." She raised an eyebrow and watched him. He sighed, "A little." She closed her eyes for a moment.

"It should be fine. From what I've observed of Jim, he seems to take things well. He will most likely become angry with you, but actually understand. And keep it a secret unless absolutely necessary."

"Probably, but there's always the chance he'll freak out or something." She shrugged.

"True… you could always join a circus." He glared at her and she laughed.

She woke up next to Bones the next morning and blinked around in confusion, having not slept properly for 200 years. She stretched and winced, feeling bruises that weren't able to heal. She looked over at Bones for a while before getting up. She smiled when he didn't wake up and went to figure out the shower again. She came back to see Bones groggily sitting up and smiled.

"Morning Bones. Did I wake you?"

"No, did you expect to?" She shrugged.

"Not really, but never hurts to check." He just yawned and walked past her. She slumped down on the bed and stretched out on it to wait for him. He came back and sat next to her 15 minutes later.

"I have to tell Jim today."

"No, we do." He nodded and granted her a relieved smile.

"Right. So, should we tell him before or after breakfast?" She stretched again and sat up.

"Would my opinion actually count?"

"Breakfast it is." She rolled her eyes and followed him.

"I knew you were fattening me up."

* * *

**Uh-oh, I wonder how Jim's going to react! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well well well, looks like it's time to see how Jim reacts ne?**

* * *

Jim met them in the cafeteria and sat down across from them with a grin and a cheery "Good Morning!" The grin slowly faded as the pair ignored him, immersed in their conversation as Bones explained Starfleet to her. He didn't even bother to interrupt them, seeing as how Scythe was actually eating the food. She finished eating and Jim happily stood and walked next to them before sticking his head between them and grinning.

"Morning!" They both jolted back, Scythe violently enough for her to go tumbling off the chair. Jim knelt down instantly. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you that bad! Are you okay?"

"Fine." She swatted his hand away with a frown. "What do you want?"

"I was seeing how you were and wondering if Bones was ready to talk. Sorry to scare you." Scythe scowled angrily and righted the chair.

"Don't worry Jim, she's just mad that she didn't know you were there." Jim looked at her again and smiled.

"Guess I'm just that good." She raised a brow in an almost startling resemblance to Spock.

"If the doctor and I hadn't been immersed in our conversation, which you interrupted, than you wouldn't have gotten close." Jim almost visibly deflated.

"Burst my bubble why don't you." Bones laughed and got up.

"You could stand to get knocked down a bit Jim." He started to walk away, Scythe instantly following him. Jim watched her stay close to him and shook his head.

"If 'fleet wants to take her off this ship, we're going to have some fight on our hands." He smiled, amused, and went after them.

They waited outside of Jim's room until he caught up, their faces more serious than before. Jim grinned and opened his door.

"Cheer up, it can't be that bad! Just tell me everything." Bones sighed and followed him, Scythe coming in last. They sat across from Jim, watching him carefully. Jim looked between them and groaned.

"Are you going to be wary of me from now on? Because if that's what's going to happen if you tell me, I'm not sure if I want to know. And you better not be thinking I'll fire you or something stupid like that, because you're still my friend and the best doctor there is. So? What'll it be?" Scythe smiled and looked at Bones.

"It's up to you Bones." He groaned.

"I all ready said I'd tell you Jim. So just shut up and listen. You can ask questions later if you want to." Jim nodded and Scythe leaned back as Bones began to explain the truth.

Jim stared at Bones, occasionally letting his eyes flicker over to Scythe as he finished speaking. He finally leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair with a sigh.

"All this time and I had no idea." He paused and looked between them. "I need time to think… Okay?" Bones slumped slightly, but Scythe stood and nodded.

"Of course Jim. Come on Bones." She grabbed him by the arm and hauled him out of the room. Jim slumped down and rested his head on the desk.

"This is impossible…"

Scythe led Bones down a hall before letting him take the lead back to his room. He went slowly until he got his door open. Scythe then proceeded to push him inside and shut it. She made him sit on the bed and stood over him.

"Quit it. It'll be fine. Jim needs time to think about the massive amount of information about you that he had no clue about the entire time he's been your friend. That doesn't mean he's thinking of how to utilize you, study you, or get rid of you. Understood?" Bones nodded slowly and she slapped him. He reeled back and looked sharply at her.

"What the hell?" She looked back at him coolly.

"You're moping. Dreading whatever happens next." She sat next to him. "You don't need to. Jim likes you too much and is… nice. Besides, if things go wrong, there's an entire universe to explore." He smiled slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Trust you to find something good in bad outcomes." She shrugged.

"I found good on Olduvai. You can't keep me down now." They laughed and fell backwards onto the bed.

Jim paced around his room before finally falling onto his bed. He groaned and stared at the ceiling. He kept running over everything in his head, trying to see the Bones he knew. The doctor that could take charge, was right more often than not, and hated transporters. His best friend since they met on the shuttle. Jim smiled and sat up. He was there, still the same. Only difference was his age and past. He really was an old man now. Ancient even. He grinned and called Bones.

They woke up to the computer beeping angrily. Bones groaned and turned away from it. Scythe got up and hit a random button, Jim's face soon filling the screen.

"Scythe? Why'd you answer?"

"Bones decided he didn't want to get back up." She glanced over and saw that he was asleep again. "Okay… he's asleep again. What'd you need?"

"Sheesh, I call and he goes to sleep? I can feel the love. I just wanted to make sure he knows he's ancient. That, and I'm going to call Pike now. Thought you both should know."

"I want to be there when you talk to Pike."

"Okay. I'll come get you then." She nodded and Jim signed off. She looked over at Bones again and left the room to wait in the hall. Jim came over a minute later.

"Did you even bother to wake him up?"

"No. He needs the sleep. Been too worried since I came on board."

"And you don't?" She smiled.

"I've slept enough." Jim shrugged.

"If you say so. Come on, and don't worry; Pike's awesome." Scythe followed him with a small smile. Jim bowed slightly as he opened the door and she rolled her eyes.

"Just call Pike." Jim laughed and called him, grinning when he answered.

"Hey Pike."

"Hey Jim. Something wrong? How'd the trip to Olduvai go?"

"Well… There was kind of an accident with our firing system and it got blown up."

"Jim!"

"Sorry." Pike frowned.

"You don't look it. So what happened? Did you even go down?"

"Of course I did! Um… is this conversation monitored?" Pike hit something.

"No. Now tell me."

"Right, well we went down to Olduvai and met this girl-"

"Girl? There shouldn't have been anyone there."

"I'm getting to that. So we met her and she led us into the facility where we all almost got killed by monsters and she helped us until she found out we wanted the data. Then she wanted to kill us. She finally showed it to us and I decided there was nothing there. We went back up to the ship, making her come. When she woke up she went back down to grab one thing of data so I could show you why I decided against it. She almost got killed but in the end decided to come with us and made it outside in one piece. Bones has been looking after her, but… Well, she had been stuck there for about 200 years and there is a good explanation for that. It has to do with the data. I can play it for you now."

"Is this her?" Jim looked behind him to see Scythe watching them carefully.

"Yeah, this is Scythe." Pike nodded.

"Nice to meet you. Okay, let's see the data that made you go against orders." Jim put it in and they all watched it. When he took it out Pike was silent for a minute.

"Has anyone else seen this?"

"Spock, Bones, you, me, and Scythe are the only ones." Pike nodded.

"Good. And they're not going to say anything about it?"

"Pretty sure."

"Okay. Now how does that explain her?"

"She has C-24. It doesn't turn everyone into monsters. I figured that she could stay on the ship and Bones would be her doctor so no one would know."

"Or you could say she's a hybrid of some sort. Half human and half something else that's unknown." Jim nodded.

"Okay. That could work. She can still stay on the ship though, right?"

"No." They looked over at Scythe. "It wouldn't be fair to those that had to work for it. And I don't know much, so I am basically useless." Pike looked at Jim.

"Did you tell her that?"

"No." He turned to Scythe. "You can learn here. If nothing else, you'd make a great security officer." She was about to protest when Pike interrupted.

"He's right. It'd be best if you stayed on the ship, at least for now." He smiled, "Now, unless I'm mistaken, there's a different reason you don't want on the ship."

"It's not that I don't want to… I just have no reason to be. I'm only causing trouble and worry." Jim groaned.

"Now I get it. It's because of Bones, isn't it?" Pike looked between them.

"What are you talking about?"

"She thinks Bones would be better off if she wasn't on the ship. Which reminds me. I should tell you about him. I just found it out today."

"What?"

"Bones has C-24 too. He knew her 200 years ago."

"How? All his medical records are normal and his birth certificate is definitely not 200 years old."

"He faked them. And I think he did his own medical exams. Either that or the doctors didn't look at that." Pike nodded.

"Okay… So you have two people that are almost invincible and one is a doctor. Why does unusual stuff always happen to you?"

"Good looks."

"It was not a compliment or a joke. Scythe, Doctor McCoy will be fine. You'll stay on the ship. I'll get the paperwork done. Now all that needs to be done is to have that data destroyed and to let your crew know she's a hybrid. And you might want to tell Spock about Doctor McCoy." Jim nodded and grinned.

"All right. I'll get right on that. Thanks Pike."

"Yeah, yeah. So, anything else happen of importance?"

"No, I think that was it."

"All right. Pike out." Scythe looked at Jim and shook her head.

"Strange things must happen to you a lot. He seemed to expect something to have gone wrong. And for you to have disobeyed orders…" Jim grinned guiltily.

"Yeah… well… things never seem to go as planned on this ship. It's exciting though."

"Not the word I would've used." Jim jumped and spun towards the voice. Scythe looked calmly over her shoulder.

"Bones?!"

"About time you got up."

"Thanks for waking me." He rolled his eyes and Scythe shrugged.

"You needed to sleep. We've all ready talked to Pike." Jim grinned.

"Scythe gets to stay here with us! We got another hybrid on board!"

"Hybrid?" He looked at Scythe and she smirked.

"Makes sense doesn't it? Best way to explain me. Half human, half unknown." She frowned suddenly, "Does it bother you? Either the hybrid status or my staying?" Bones blinked.

"Of course it doesn't. I wanted you to stay on the ship, and being a hybrid explains a lot." He turned to Jim. "Pike's okay with her then."

"Yes. He's filling out the paperwork for us. So… You're over 200 years old right?" Bones nodded warily and Jim grinned. "So you're ancient!" Bones twitched and tried to look cross.

"Now that I'm older than you thought, you really should treat me better. Respect your elders and all that." Scythe grinned and Jim burst out laughing. Bones finally lost his mini battle and ended up grinning too.

A few weeks later and Scythe was demanding entrance to Jim's room. He opened the door, saw her angry, and tried to close it. She managed to slip past him easily, still being extremely skinny. Jim sighed and turned as the door closed.

"Hey Scythe, how are you?" She glared at him.

"I am perfectly fine other than two things. One: I am tired of learning everything, seeing as how much of it I will never use. Two: When am I going to actually do something!?" She fumed.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. You can have a job. What one appeals to you?"

"I can't do medical, linguistics, engineering, piloting, or basically anything other than security without going to the Academy." Jim held his hands up in surrender.

"Got it. Security it is. I'll tell John and you can start training tomorrow. In the mean time, you could try and learn some other languages." She twitched.

"I all ready know five!" Jim laughed as she stormed out to go complain to Bones, again.

Scythe waited in the gym for the rest of security to show up. When they got there she was introduced to them all before they would start any training. John smiled and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Okay, we're just running through the basics today. Some exercises, target practice, nothing too difficult. If you get tired or anything, just tell me or stand off to the side, ok?" She nodded.

"Understood." John turned to the rest of the group and clapped his hands, telling them to run two laps and do the obstacle course. Everyone started jogging and Scythe watched them for a bit to understand what a lap was before starting herself, soon passing everyone. She jogged over to John after her two laps and he showed her what the obstacle course was and she instantly started it, finishing just as the others were getting started. John showed her how to use a phaser while she waited for everyone to get done. By the time he had finished explaining it to her everyone else had finished the obstacle course. He started them all on target practice, pointing out that different targets gave different points and how there were some that would make you lose points. Scythe smiled as she watched everyone take their turn before stepping up. She missed a couple, but didn't hit any she wasn't supposed to. They congratulated her even as she berated herself over missing any. John clapped her on the shoulder without warning and she spun him around and pinned him. The entire gym went silent as they watched her cautiously, waiting to see what she would do. Scythe paused for a moment before jumping up and away from him. A few others went to help him up.

"… I'm sorry." She turned and ran off, easily finding her way to sickbay. She quietly walked inside and sat on a bed to wait. Bones came in a moment later, took one glance at her, and sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't be here. I can't aim and I can't be around people anymore." He sat next to her.

"You'll get better at aiming. Phasers have no kick and you're not used to it. Tell me what happened."

"I was able to do everything better than the rest until target practice… They still thought I did well and… I attacked John. I didn't expect him to touch me and when he did I… reacted. I didn't even think to help him back up." Bones rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about it Scythe. It'll be fine."

"I could have killed him Bones. I would have."

"But you didn't. And since he's not up here you didn't even seriously injure him." Scythe shook her head.

"You don't understand…"

"Really? Considering how I had to adjust to things too I thought I'd be able to. No one expects you to get everything right. They all know you were stuck on Olduvai for a while with monsters as your companions. So… are you going to go back tomorrow, or just give up?"

"Giving up is so much simpler… Back to the gym tomorrow then." Bones smiled and patted her on the back.

"Come on. Let's get something to eat." She groaned, but followed him obediently. Bones rolled his eyes when she didn't get much, but decided against an argument when he spotted John walking towards them.

"Hey Scythe. Sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to startle you. I should've known better." She immediately shook her head.

"No… You did nothing wrong. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Just some bruises, nothing big. At least I know that in close combat our enemies need to be careful." He grinned and Scythe slowly followed suit.

"Good… I am sorry though."

"Don't worry about it." He glanced at her plate with a questioning look. "Seriously? You're that strong and that's all you eat?" He shook his head. "Not fair. Anyway, you're coming back tomorrow, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. See you then!" He walked off and Scythe turned back to a smiling Bones.

"What?"

"See? You were worried about nothing." She glared at him.

"It was a reasonable concern." He laughed and stood up.

"You're done for the day then, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Good. That means you can help me organize sickbay and then get Spock and Jim to set a time for their physicals." She groaned and pushed herself up.

"Wouldn't it work better if you bullied them into it?"

"No. I can only threaten them with hypos. You can actually threaten to carry them down." She laughed with him and followed him down to sickbay. They had just finished reorganizing everything when Jim came in with a grin. Scythe turned and grinned back at him, making him falter.

"Perfect timing Jim! You need to pick a time for your physical." He groaned.

"You know, I just remembered something I have to do…" Scythe grabbed his arm and held him there easily.

"All you have to do is sign the padd and I'll let you go."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Perhaps."

"… Let go Scythe. I am the Captain."

"Well the Captain needs a physical. Now, are you going to set a time for one, or am I going to have to carry you here at whatever time Bones decides to give you one?" He blanched and grabbed the padd from her, quickly signing his name. Scythe smiled and began to push past him when he moved to block her way.

"I came down here with an actual reason. We finally got that room cleared out for you." She paused and looked over at him.

"I get my own room?"

"Yeah! You don't have to share with a grumpy Bones anymore!" He laughed and left before Bones could kick him out. Scythe turned to him when he spoke.

"Congrats. You're now officially part of the crew and don't have to deal with me everyday."

"… You're not always grumpy, and I… I didn't really mind dealing with you." She smiled at him, "It makes it so much easier to adjust to this time." He smiled back at her and pushed her out the door.

"I'm glad. We can talk about how amazing I am after you get Spock to set an appointment." She laughed and left to find him. Half an hour later and she silently slipped into sickbay and then snuck over to peek into the office. Bones suddenly opened the door with a grin, making her jump back. She scowled and threw the padd at him when he laughed.

"Mean." He glanced at the padd and smiled.

"You knew that all ready. Good job getting Spock's signature." She hopped onto a bed and swung her legs around.

"It was easy actually. I didn't have to threaten him near as much as I did Jim."

"Really? Spock hates physicals."

"Are you that horrible during them?"

"Why don't you find out? Now that you've gained enough weight I can do a proper one on you."

"Okay. When?"

"Right now. Lay down please." She tried and failed to hide a smile.

"I don't get a choice like Jim and Spock?"

"Do you really need one?" She laughed.

"Guess not." He laughed and began the physical, making the proper adjustments for her as needed. Once they were done she got up and stretched while he put a few things away.

"Well? Was it absolutely horrible?" He grinned and she laughed.

"I can honestly say I don't know what the big deal is." She grinned back at him. "Then again, I get to compare it to physicals in RRTS."

"This must seem relaxing then." They laughed at that before Scythe headed towards the door.

"See you later Bones. I think I'll go work on target practice."

"Don't overwork yourself. And don't forget you got your own room now." She waved slightly and disappeared.

Late that night she woke up in a cold sweat with adrenaline coursing through her veins. She shook for a while as she checked over the room to make sure no one was there. After twenty minutes she finally got up and went into the empty hallway. She glanced around and headed to Spock's room, hoping he was still awake. She knocked lightly twice and waited, glancing around every now and then as she tried to calm her racing heart. A minute later and the door slid open.

"Scythe? Is there a problem?"

"I'm having difficulty sleeping and I think it's because I'm alone now. Would it bother you greatly if I stay in your room for a while? At least long enough to calm down?" He stepped aside to let her through.

"It would not. Come in." She slipped inside and he closed the door. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes while she took deep breaths to calm herself. A minute later and she opened her eyes to look at him.

"I hope I didn't wake you."

"You did not."

"Good…" She slid to the floor and sat there until he knelt next to her.

"Are you all right? Do you need medical attention?"

"No… I'll be fine."

"Perhaps you should sleep."

"… I'll go back to my room in a minute."

"Seeing as how you had difficulty sleeping there the logical conclusion is that you stay here to sleep." She glanced up at him in shock for a minute before chuckling.

"Logical… Right. For a second there I thought you were hitting on me." She smiled at him and stood up. "You wouldn't mind if I slept here?"

"I would not have suggested it if it would be a problem."

"Thanks. You should get some sleep too."

"I do not require as much sleep as you." She rolled her eyes.

"That's great, but you do need some. You have a pillow or something I could use?"

"There is one on the bed."

"I'm not taking the bed. That's where you're going to sleep. I'll be on the floor." She held up a finger to silence him. "There is no way I am going to take the bed from you, regardless of how much you actually sleep." He inclined his head slightly.

"Seeing as how we disagree it is only logical to share the bed." She paused to look at him before laughing and sitting on the bed.

"Okay. We'll share the bed then."

The next morning Scythe woke up extremely warm and comfortable. She yawned slightly and shifted around until she could sit up. She looked over at Spock with a smile before getting up. Looking around quickly she wrote a note to thank him again before heading back to her room.

She did better at target practice and was careful not to accidentally attack anyone again, often jumping away from them and forcing her hands behind her back. By the time practice was over she was tired, but satisfied. She crept back into sickbay and smiled at Bones.

"I did better today."

"I can tell. You'd be completely despondent if you hadn't." He smiled at her and she pushed him slightly.

"Not completely."

"You really shouldn't be lying to yourself." She just laughed and went back to her room for the night. Almost an hour later and she was outside Spock's door again. He didn't look very surprised to see her and she smiled sheepishly.

"Was last night's offer only for then, or does it still count now?" He stepped aside to let her in once more.

"I see no reason why I should not allow this again." She smiled and slipped past him.

"You would tell me if I was bothering you, right?"

"Yes."

"Really? A lot of people would lie about it."

"That is illogical. As I am Vulcan-"

"Yeah, yeah, something about different species and culture. I believe you." Spock inclined his head at that and Scythe smiled slightly. "Are you going to sleep now?"

"No, not yet."

"Hmmm… I don't really want to sleep without you right now, so maybe you could teach me something?"

"Is there something you wanted to learn?"

"Well… How about your language?"

"It is difficult to learn."

"I don't expect to learn it all tonight. Will you teach me your language Spock?" He went and sat at the desk.

"Of course."

Two hours later and she yawned, blinking tiredly at him before slumping in the chair asleep. Spock immediately got up and went over to check on her. Carefully picking her up he laid her on the bed, keeping the covers off her. A few hours later and he climbed in next to her, instantly seeking her out as he too fell asleep.

Scythe woke early the next morning and smiled as she slowly remembered falling asleep before huddling closer to Spock, enjoying his warmth. He stirred and pulled away to look at her.

"You are awake."

"Not if we have to get up."

"You have to report to the gym today."

"I don't want to. I want to stay here with you."

"I need to report to the bridge in approximately 25.64 minutes." She smiled lightly.

"It takes no more than five minutes to get to the bridge from here. That leaves at least fifteen minutes to stay here."

"It… it's logical." She grinned and huddled back towards him.

"You used a contraction."

"I did."

"… I can come back tonight too right? I can try to sleep alone if it bothers you."

"I have previously stated that you are no bother to me."

"I'll take that as a yes. Thank you Spock." He nodded once and carefully wrapped an arm around her, making her smile again. It soon became a pattern, even going so far as for her to keep some clothes in his room. Luckily, no one noticed.

* * *

**How cute! She made a friend! ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**All righty then! Another chapter jsut for all you lovelies! Enjoy it ne?**

* * *

A month later and they had to go down to a planet. Scythe was the only security and she was ecstatic to finally go down with them. Bones finally glared at her to stop her fidgeting and she grinned sheepishly at him as Jim and Spock joined them. Jim had Scotty beam them down and Scythe's eyes widened once there. Jim grinned when he noticed.

"It's nice huh?"

"It's… green." She smiled at all the foliage around them. Jim looked confused and Bones chuckled.

"She hasn't been down to a planet Jim. And Olduvai didn't have much."

"She was on Earth before that!"

"In a bunker for RRTS. Before that I was in a training facility and the plants were mainly fake."

"How about before that?"

"I lived in a desert and signed up for the military at 16." She mumbled at the end as she carefully walked away to explore a bit.

"Okay… Hey Scythe! Where are you going?"

"Checking out the area. I'll be right back."

"… Maybe you should go with her Spock. Just in case."

"Leave her alone Jim. She knows what she's doing. And she has her communicator with her." Jim sighed and turned away.

"Fine. Let's go see what we can find." They set off with a final glance back to where Scythe had disappeared.

Meanwhile, Scythe had found a patch of vibrant flowers densely surrounded by trees. She grinned and checked the perimeter before going over for a closer look. She knew something was wrong as soon as she knelt down and quickly glanced around again before looking down in time to see a vine shoot out and into her side. She ripped it from her, unearthing the entire flower in the process. She threw it away from her and slowly dropped her hand over the closing wound. Feeling the icy skin there and the chill spreading quickly throughout her she grasped at the communicator and flipped it open.

"Bones? I hate flowers." She managed to gasp out before keeling over.

As soon as Bones heard her say that he had turned around and ran back to find her, a confused Jim and Spock closely following him. After a while they finally stumbled onto the flower patch and Bones grabbed her, running a tricorder over her in frustration. Jim went to investigate the flowers only to be yelled at.

"Damn it Jim stay away from those! If it managed to knock her out it's possible it will kill you!" He glared and flipped open his communicator to have Scotty beam them back as Spock grabbed the unearthed plant. Bones didn't even wait for Scotty to ask what had happened before running her to sickbay. Spock headed to the Botany lab to analyze the plant.

Fifteen minutes later and Spock walked back into sickbay to see a frustrated Bones glaring at his computer.

"Doctor, this plant seems to be filled with something similar to liquid nitrogen."

"And it injected her with it. We need to get her somewhere warm now and I can't inject her with anything. Would you mind if I put her in your room?" He paused before nodding once and turning to leave.

"It is logical." Bones grabbed Scythe and carried her down the halls after Spock, waiting for him to input his code. He immediately laid her on the bed and covered her up. He stood and looked around.

"Okay. It's better than anything else…" He glanced at the closet and stiffened. "Spock… Please tell me you're a cross dresser and this is not what it looks like."

"Being a cross dresser is illogical Doctor. What does it look like?" Spock finally turned and saw where he was looking. He froze as Bones turned around with a glare.

"That you're sleeping with Scythe… Care to elaborate before I break your neck?"

"Breaking my neck would be illogical as you are the Doctor and-"

"I don't give a damn!" He shouted at the hybrid and, sadly, managed to wake Scythe.

"Nnn… Bones?" She blinked up at him slowly and shivered. "I'm cold…" She glanced over at Spock and held out a hand. "Spock… Come here?" Spock hesitantly walked over and grabbed her hand, flinching minutely at the low temperature. She didn't let him pull away and grabbed tightly before suddenly yanking him down next to her. She smiled and immediately cuddled up next to him before falling back asleep. Spock blinked in shock and looked back to see Bones' murderous look.

"… I fail to see why you are angry when clearly she initiated any and all contact."

"You didn't have to grab her hand."

"She obviously wanted me to."

"I don't give a damn! Get away from her!" Spock looked down at Scythe and back up.

"I believe that would be extremely difficult. Could you perhaps adjust the temperature up another .6 degrees?" Bones' hands curled into fists.

"No, but I can turn it down."

"Would that not be counter productive? We are trying to raise her body temperature."

"I don't care! Just get away from her!"

"That is extremely illogical as I am not the one holding her." Bones walked towards him.

"Then I'll just pull you two apart." He grabbed them and began to pull them apart only to get a hand in his face. Scythe opened one eye long enough to glare at him before shoving him away and wrapping herself back around Spock.

"You are not my older brother and we have not had sex."

"Yeah well, I don't want to give it a chance."

"Fine, then next time you get stabbed by the freezing plant. And it's warm in here!" Bones sighed after a minute and headed towards the door.

"Fine. Get some rest and warm up. I'll come see you in the morning." He left and Scythe scooted over to look at Spock.

"Sorry. He's always acted like an older brother to me. By protecting me or teaching me or something."

"I suppose he does have a redeeming quality then." She smiled slowly and began to laugh.

Spock carefully tried to pry himself away from Scythe the next morning. He was almost out of the bed when she grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him.

"It is time to get up. Your core temperature has risen to a tolerable level."

"Since when did I need to be freezing to try and coerce you into staying in bed with me?"

"You have not." Scythe smiled.

"So are you going to stay?"

"No. Doctor McCoy should be here to check on you soon." He pulled out of her grip as she frowned.

"So you're leaving because he'll get mad again?" She sighed. "All right. Sorry for probably making you cold. I'll see you later."

"… You are welcome to return tonight if he has not imprisoned you." He left and Scythe grinned.

"Was that a joke?" She sat up when Bones opened the door. He glanced around quickly before coming in.

"So that hobgoblin isn't here?"

"No. You effectively ran him off. I'm sure you're happy about that."

"Don't get mad at me. You shouldn't be sleeping with him."

"I couldn't sleep in my room! I would wake up thinking I was about to be attacked or something. He was closer and allowed it."

"Then you should have at least told me! Why is it that I had to find out when you're hurt?"

"… I figured you'd get mad. And Spock doesn't seem like the type to normally allow something like that. Not to mention you two don't really get along well."

"Damn it Scythe. You could've told me and you know it."

"Sorry. Guess I still suck with social interactions." Bones sighed and ran the tricorder over her.

"Temperature's almost back to normal. There's probably still some remnant left in you so you're going to have to take a few days off."

"What?! No! I hate days off!"

"Too bad. Come on, I want to run a few tests in sickbay." She groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

"This is so not fair. I want to get back to work." He pulled her off the bed and onto the floor. She glared at him, but got up to follow him to sickbay anyway.

She showed up in sickbay early the next morning and spent an hour sitting on a bed and glaring at Bones as he worked. He only smiled when she finally hopped down with a scowl and left to go find Jim since he had banned her from the gym. She finally found him in his room. He let her in with a grin.

"Something wrong Scythe? Bones mad at you too?"

"No. He's being mean to me."

"How?"

"He made me take days off! And banned me from the gym! It's not fair!"

"… Hold on. You're upset because you aren't working?"

"Yeah, so?" Jim almost face palmed and sighed.

"Somehow I'm not surprised. Scotty does that too though. Well, maybe he's punishing you for sleeping with Spock so much." She glared at him.

"He told you?"

"Spock did actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I asked why Bones was mad at him and he explained."

"… Any chance you can override his decision?"

"Nope. Medical matters he has complete control over."

"Talk to him then!" Jim laughed.

"I doubt my opinion matters much based on my history in sickbay."

"Right…" She groaned and turned to leave.

"Hey Scythe." She glanced at his grinning face. "Have fun on your days off!" He closed the door before she could turn and hit him. She glared at the door for a minute before heading back to sickbay. She glared at Bones as soon as he came into view.

"Can I go back to work yet? I am perfectly fine and you know it!"

"Nope, I want to make sure. You were injected with liquid nitrogen after all. Any normal person would have been killed."

"But I wasn't! You know very well that I am able to get back to work or at least go to the gym and are denying me out of pure spite!"

"Yep. Anything else you wanted to complain about?"

"I hate you."

"Anything new?"

"When I can I go back?!" He smirked.

"How about I make a deal with you?" She eyed him warily.

"What?"

"I'll let you go back to the gym tomorrow if, and only if, you eat at least as much as Jim does today. Number of trays and calorie count." She gaped at him.

"Are you serious?! He's almost always eating!"

"And you never eat enough. If you don't want to that's fine, but you won't be allowed back to the gym or to work for a few more days." She floundered a bit in her horror before slumping onto the floor in defeat.

"Okay… I'll do it." He grinned and pulled her up.

"Might want to go ask him how many trays he's probably going to have today." She slinked out the door and headed for Jim's room. He opened it as soon as she got there.

"Scythe? Back again?"

"I need to know how many trays of food you are planning on eating today."

"Um… Five? Why?" She stared up at him in despair before sighing and heading to the cafeteria. She grabbed a tray and stood there for a minute before finally filling it with food and sitting down. Ten minutes of staring at it in disgust and she reached out to start eating, calling Sulu over to talk with her at the same time. Chekov was used for the second tray and Scotty for the third as they complained about having to take off work on occasion. She groaned as she grabbed another tray and Jim walked in.

"No! How much have you had today?!" He held up his hands in defense.

"Whoa… Um… Like two trays. It's lunchtime now." She frowned and sat down, letting him get a tray. He grinned at her a moment later as he sat next to her. "Wow, hungry today?"

"No! I'm eating way too much and will probably get fat from it! But I made a deal with Bones so if you eat more than five trays today I'll have to seriously consider how to dispose of your body." He scooted away from her a bit before beginning to eat.

"Care to tell me what this deal was?"

"I have to eat at least as much as you do today in order to be allowed in the gym tomorrow." She glared at the tray in front of her as if it would make it disappear. Jim glanced at his tray and back at her significantly more healthy one.

"So it's just for the amount of trays?"

"Calorie count too." He glanced back at his.

"Um… I don't eat nearly as healthy as you do so mine has more calories." She shot him a glare.

"I know and you should. I'm going to end up eating more than you just to get to your stupid calorie count, but if I eat things like you do I'd want to puke." He just laughed as she picked at her tray. She managed to finish it three hours later when Spock walked over to her with his dinner. She glanced at it and tilted her head.

"What is that?"

"It is Vulcan food."

"… How many calories compared to normal food?"

"I assume you are asking this because of your deal with the Doctor. Vulcan food has a higher calorie count and is often considered healthier than Earth food." She stared at him before running to get a tray of it.

"Why did no one tell me this before?!" She dug in happily.

"Humans do not normally find it palatable. There is some that I do not even enjoy."

"It's good." She smiled and continued eating. "And I don't have to eat as much now!" A few minutes later and she put the fork down. "Oh, can I practice Vulcan now?"

"Of course." She grinned and started to speak with him in Vulcan, effectively cutting everyone else out of their conversation. She only looked up when Spock stopped talking to her and looked over at the door to see Bones walk in and head towards them. It suddenly made sense why Spock had moved a bit away from her. She grinned at Bones and pointed to the empty trays.

"I did it!" He smiled and sat next to her.

"Good job. Maybe I will be able to get you to a healthy weight after all." She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled over at Spock.

"He introduced me to Vulcan food. It's pretty good and healthy. No salt even."

"And you like it?"

"Of course. There's nothing wrong with it. There's no grease or excess fat or sugar or salt or-"

"Okay, okay. I get it. I don't really care. Since you like it you should just eat that every day for your meals."

"I can do that."

"And still have at least two meals a day, preferably three." She frowned.

"I'll try and remember." Bones glanced at Spock and back at her.

"If I promise to stop being mad at Spock will you eat three a day? At least for a week?" She looked back at Spock before smiling.

"It's a deal. I'll do my best to remember to eat." Bones rolled his eyes and got back up.

"Come on Scythe. I need to run a few tests and check your weight again." She sighed and got up.

"I hate checking my weight."

Later that night she tried inputting Spock's code three times before throwing her hands in the air and calling him. He opened the door a moment later.

"My apologies. I changed the code approximately 2.7 hours ago."

"Did you not want me here? You could just tell me to leave. It's not like I'll take offense to it or something."

"That is not it. I change the code every other month. I merely forgot to mention this to you." She shrugged and made her way over to the bed.

"Okay, I believe you." Spock followed her.

"You mentioned earlier that you hate checking your weight. Why is that?" She groaned and laid down.

"Because Bones gets mad at me every time. I'm always underweight and it bothers him."

"How much do you currently weigh?"

"About 92 pounds."

"The healthy weight for humans of your height is approximately 120 pounds."

"So I've heard. It's just so hard to get to that weight and stay there! Bones says I need to eat more and exercise less but it sounds like such a bother and I've never been good at that."

"Perhaps it would be wise to try." She sighed and smiled at him.

"Maybe I should just have you choose my meals for me since I have to eat three a day now anyway. Would you be willing to do that Spock?"

"If you need me to." She laughed.

"I probably do. You going to sleep now?"

"No."

"Damn. Can you just stay in the bed with me then? You can work on a padd or something."

"Of course." He got in next to her and she smiled.

Bones finally let her go back to work almost a week later under orders to take it easy. He threatened to take her off again if she dropped in weight and keep her off until she got to 140. She winced and hightailed it out of sickbay. She stood outside the gym for a minute before sighing and heading towards the cafeteria. She sat next to Spock with a sigh and he slid a tray in front of her. She glanced at the food and turned to smile at him.

"Thanks." He only nodded as she began to eat.

Scythe was in the gym an hour later, running everything off before the rest of security showed up. She flipped backwards to end up in front of John with a smile. He grinned back at her and set everyone else on laps as he handed her a phaser.

"Welcome back. You don't really need anymore training, so let's try and get you a perfect score for target practice."

"I don't need training?"

"Of course not. You're the best here. Perfection."

"I can't be perfect."

"Well, I think you are." She smiled at him and headed to the target area.

"I'm not though." He chuckled and followed her.

"All right. I'm still going to see you as perfect anyway."

"I am not perfect! I can't even win with the phaser!" John smiled and leaned around her to help.

"Here. Try aiming a bit farther down. Basically in a straight line. You can just keep firing without having to do anything else other than pull the trigger. Do you want me to show you?"

"Ok… Sure, thanks." He spent the rest of the day helping her get a perfect score. By the time practice was over she had finally managed to get a perfect score and jumped up happily. "I did it! Finally! Thank you!" She hugged him and he grinned.

A few days later and John once again sat next to Scythe for lunch. Scythe smiled at him and they began to talk.. An hour later and he got up to leave. Scythe waved as he left and turned back to Spock.

"He's nice." Spock nodded and glanced at her.

"I believe he is interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with you." She gaped at him.

"Really? I didn't even notice."

"Yes. It is quite obvious." Scythe stared at her tray for a while before looking back up at him.

"But I'm not interested in one with him."

"It would be relevant to inform him then."

"Yeah, but how do I do that?" Spock shrugged and she sighed before leaving for the gym. She watched them for a minute before going up to John. He grinned at her.

"Hey Scythe. Isn't it your day off?"

"Yeah, I just need to talk to you."

"Okay, what do you need?" They walked away from the others and Scythe looked at him.

"I was just told that you've been… flirting with me."

"Uh, yeah?"

"You might as well stop. I'm not interested in a romantic relationship with you." He flushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh… Um, well… Sorry then." Scythe smiled.

"No worries. Sorry I didn't notice sooner."

"Oh! No, it's fine! See you later Scythe." He jogged back to the others and Scythe went to sickbay.

"Bones! I need some help!" He ignored her in order to finish sorting some supplies. She bounced slightly on the balls of her feet until he turned around and motioned for her to sit.

"All right. What's wrong this time?"

"I just talked to John and when he left I think he was upset but I can't be sure and I don't know why. If he is it could be because of what I said but I don't think I said anything wrong. Help!" Bones sat next to her and sighed.

"Okay, what were you talking about?"

"Apparently he's been flirting with me."

"And?"

"Well… I told him that it was pointed out to me and he said 'yeah' and I told him he might as well stop and that I'm not interested in a romantic relationship with him. Which is the truth but he looked upset so I don't understand!" Bones winced.

"Ouch, poor guy. I don't even have the heart to get mad that he was flirting with you." Scythe blinked up at him in confusion and Bones sighed. "Telling him to stop flirting like that, so abruptly, isn't the nicest way to put it. And then so bluntly stating that you didn't want to be involved with him is like kicking him while he's down."

"Why? It was the truth."

"Remember how I told you about how being blunt can be considered rude or unfriendly?"

"Yeah?"

"Same concept. It came across like you didn't like him at all." She groaned and flopped backwards.

"I don't get it, but I believe you. So how do I fix it?"

"You could try explaining."

"… Can you? I'm not good at that. I always make things worse." He shoved her off the bed.

"No. You're a big girl, you can do it yourself." She glowered at him before leaving. A few minutes later and she spotted John in the hall.

"Hey! John! Wait up!" He glanced at her for a second before turning away. She grabbed his shoulder with frown and turned him around. "Hey, I need to talk to you." He sighed.

"… Okay."

"About earlier; I didn't mean it the way it apparently sounded. I just don't really want to date you. Sorry, but I would much rather just be friends." He nodded and turned to leave.

"Right. Okay. I have to go now." Scythe groaned as he walked away and forlornly headed back to sickbay. She slithered through the door and flopped onto a bed.

"Your turn." Bones smiled.

"What happened this time?"

"Found him in the hall, said I didn't mean it the way it apparently sounded. That I just don't really want to date him. I'd much rather be friends. I even said sorry! But… He still acted upset." Bones patted her head.

"Well… For you, that's good. Personal growth even. I'll go talk to him for you now." She nodded and he left. Scythe got up a moment later and went to Spock's room. She sighed when he wasn't there and sat on the bed to wait.

Spock opened his door over an hour later to find her curled up on his bed asleep. He put his padd away and went to sit next to her before laying a hand on her shoulder to wake her. She jolted up and looked at him for a minute before smiling.

"Hey Spock. Didn't mean to fall asleep…"

"It is not a problem. Doctor McCoy asked for me to inform you that he spoke with John. There is no longer a problem for you to worry about."

"That's good. I'm really horrible at things like that. Bones says I'm way too blunt." She looked up at him curiously. "What about you? Do you think I'm too blunt? Does it bother you?"

"No. It is logical and I can see no fault in how you speak or act." She beamed and hugged him.

"I knew it. It'd be easier if other people could understand that." He carefully wrapped an arm around her with a nod.

"It would be logical. However, humans are not always logical." She laughed and closed her eyes.

"Hey Spock? Since I apparently suck at noticing, will you tell me when someone seems interested in a romantic relationship with me?"

"Of course." She nodded.

"Even if you don't like them or don't want me to date them?"

"Why would I-?"

"Bones would do something like that."

"I will inform you as soon as I notice."

"Thanks Spock…" She trailed off and when he looked down at her she was asleep again. He watched her for a moment before picking her up to lay her down properly on the bed.

"Unfortunately I will now have to inform you of my interest soon."

Scythe left before Spock was up the next morning and headed to sickbay. She hugged Bones instantly and he grinned at her.

"You're welcome." She smiled and sat on a bed.

"Thanks. Are we going to a planet soon?"

"Not for a few days. And it's a diplomatic mission." Scythe groaned and leaned back.

"Those are boring. Are these people really stiff?"

"Yeah. Jim's almost dreading it. You might not want to go down." She shook her head.

"No, I'll behave myself. I love going to new places." Bones patted her head.

"Okay, I'll make sure Jim knows that this time." She jumped off the bed

"Thanks. I'm off today so I'm going to go bother Spock again."

"Just leave him alone!" She laughed and ducked out of the room.

* * *

**Awwww... How cute! ^^ You like?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Aaaaaaaand Another chapter for whoever reads this.**

* * *

Scythe walked back into Spock's room and smiled at him.

"Good morning Spock." He inclined his head and continued working. She sat across from him and frowned. "Isn't it your day off?"

"It is."

"Then why are you working?"

"Is there something else I should be doing?" Scythe thought for a moment before smiling slightly.

"I want to try something."

"What?"

"You have to close your eyes." He glanced at her curiously before closing his eyes. Scythe's eyes widened and she leaned over the desk. She watched him for a moment before leaning further in and very carefully kissing him. His eyes flew open and she pulled away, not looking at him. There was a pause before she looked up.

"Spock…" He didn't let her finish by pulling her back for a more proper kiss. They pulled apart a moment later and Scythe stared at him. Spock paused before speaking.

"… It would be relevant to tell you that I am interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with you." Scythe laughed.

"Good to know. I should probably tell you that I'm interested as well then."

"That is… good to know." She smiled and kissed him again, being pulled across the table in the process. They finally pulled apart and Scythe grinned before hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her in return with a small smile. "Doctor McCoy will be upset."

"Bones is always upset. I'll tell him after your next physical." He nodded.

"That would be wise." She leaned back to look at him, pulling on his shoulders.

"Again. Kiss me again." He obliged instantly.

Scythe crept into sickbay after meeting with security the next day and grinned at Bones. He glared at her and pointed to a bed which she grudgingly sat upon.

"What were you doing yesterday? You never came back and I'm pretty sure you didn't leave that hobgoblin's room."

"Enjoying my day off. Isn't that what you always tell me to do?"

"Enjoying it how?"

"I studied. I practiced Vulcan, tried learning chess, and read the equivalent of 'ships for dummies' on a padd." Bones frowned and glared at her.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"The things that are unnecessary. Like… I ate something for lunch." He grumbled and handed her a padd.

"Fine. Go schedule physicals for me."

"I am on duty you know."

"Then why are hanging around here?"

"I like you?" He glared at her again and she ducked out the door, waving the padd at him.

"I'll do this for you. Because you're so pleasant today."

She grinned and wove her way through the ship to find everyone on the list. She grinned at the last two names and slowly made her way up to the bridge. She tapped Jim on his shoulder and held out the padd with a grin when he turned around.

"Set up a physical. Bones has me running his errands again." Jim groaned and took the padd from her.

"Probably because arguing with you normally ends me up in sickbay anyway." She laughed as he handed it back. She glanced at it and went over to Spock with a smile.

"Your turn Spock." He took the padd and looked over it to find an earlier time. He finally signed it and handed it back. Scythe glanced at the time and smiled before heading out. She tossed the padd to Bones once she got there and headed back to the gym, having wasted her entire shift running errands.

A few days later and Scythe walked with Spock to sickbay for his physical. She was really careful to stay a pace away from him just in case Bones saw them. They stopped outside of sickbay and Scythe stopped him from going inside. She glanced around the empty hallway before pulling him down for a kiss, keeping her senses on high alert. She slowly pulled away when she heard movement heading towards the door. She smiled at him and let him go inside before sighing and settling against the wall to wait.

An hour later and the door open. Scythe perked up before suddenly ducking her head when Bones glared at her. She slowly inched past him and smiled nervously at Spock. She turned in time to see Bones fold his arms across his chest.

"He said you had something to tell me. And since you're nervous I'm assuming it's not good."

"That's not true! It's wonderful!" He looked at her suspiciously and she smiled. "I wanted to tell you first. I'm dating someone…. Spock." She jumped over to intercept Bones path to Spock and held his arms to keep him there, grimacing with the effort.

"I'll kill him!"

"No you won't." She turned her head slightly to glance at Spock. "You should leave."

"I do not believe I should leave you in these circumstances."

"Please Spock… I can't keep holding him. I want to talk with him." She gasped as he broke away and lunged at Spock, only to have Scythe jump on his back. Effectively diverting him she glared at Spock. "Go!" He hesitated before nodding once and exiting. Bones threw her off a second later and punched her.

"Why?! Why him?! Why did you stop me?!" She rubbed her cheek and slowly went to sit on a bed.

"One; I like him, a lot. Two; you're a doctor and shouldn't be attacking him. Three; it's my choice who I date! I initiated it anyway!" Bones shook his head.

"Scythe, he's not good for you. I'll stop being so mean to him if you don't date him, ok?" She gaped at him before shaking her head sadly.

"It's not about you. Shouldn't I be able to be with someone I like? Isn't that what you told me?"

"Scythe…"

"Please don't make me fight you Reaper. I wouldn't be able to win either way." Her head fell and she brushed by him to leave. He grabbed her shoulder.

"I won't fight you, but I can't agree with it."

"You attacked him."

"… And you held me back. I'll control myself." He paused to sigh. "I won't attack him anymore, but you have to promise me you'll be careful. And no sex." She shook her head and smiled slightly.

"If I do decide to have sex with him, I'll make sure to let you know… in detail." He glared and raised a hand to smack her. She slapped it with a smile. "I'm not a kid anymore. Later Bones." He sighed after she left.

"I know that… You're 200 years too old for that."

Scythe stood outside Spock's door for a while and went over the conversation with Bones. She rubbed her sore cheek again and sighed.

"He hits too hard." She mumbled and opened the door. Spock was next to her in an instant with a hand to her cheek.

"He hit you?"

"Yeah, but I deserved it."

"You did not."

"For jumping on him. It wasn't fair."

"You were preventing him from doing me harm. He should not have hit you." He traced the fading bruise lightly. Scythe grabbed his hand with a frown.

"It'll heal Spock. Don't worry about it so much." He leaned in and kissed it before she turned her head to fully kiss him. He pulled away with a raised brow and she smiled. "I like kissing you." Spock nodded and leaned back in.

"It is enjoyable with you." She wrapped her arms around him and he straightened, effectively picking her up. She clung onto him and kissed him again as he carried her to the bed so he wouldn't have to keep holding her. She smirked and pulled him with her when he tried to set her down so they both went toppling onto the bed. Scythe just laughed at his expression and cuddled next to him.

"Don't worry about Bones. He's still upset from 200 hundred years ago."

"Why?"

"Because I lied my way into the military. When he found out I had to fight with him for a while to stop him from telling on me and getting me kicked out."

"Why did you lie?" She sighed.

"Because… I wanted to join but was too young. You're supposed to be at least 18 to join."

"How old were you?"

"I had just turned 16. I finished basic training quickly and then they had me train with him. Close to the end of that is when he figured out my actual age."

"You were a child."

"Yeah, well… That's probably why he treats me like one. I was barely 17 when we went to Olduvai…" She grew quiet at the memory and closed her eyes. Spock didn't move for a few minutes before slowly getting up. Scythe watched him leave in confusion before shrugging and heading down to the gym.

Bones glared as soon as Spock walked into sickbay.

"What do you want now?"

"I wish to know more about Scythe's life 200 years ago."

"Why don't you ask her?"

"She spoke of it a small amount and quieted at the end. I do not wish to upset her further."

"It's none of your business. Just stop dating her."

"I will not." Bones just glared at him again.

"Get out."

"Why did you not inform your superiors of her age?" Bones glanced at him and sighed.

"I couldn't. She fought me for it and proved that she was both mature enough and skilled enough to stay there. And she had nowhere else to go." Spock nodded.

"Am I right to assume that you do not wish to speak to me further?"

"Yeah, now leave. You're just lucky I promised her I wouldn't attack you." Spock decided not to comment and went back to his room. He suddenly had some history to study.

By the time Scythe got back to the room Spock had finished reading and was meditating. Scythe watched him for a minute with a smile before going to shower and change. She came back out a bit later and sat on the bed; completely content to watch him. An hour later and he opened his eyes and turned to look at her. She smiled as he stood.

"I have been researching your time."

"Why?"

"To understand more of you." She stopped smiling and tilted her head.

"What do you mean? I thought you knew about me all ready."

"Of how you had lived and the laws then." She shrugged.

"History won't tell you much about my life. I was pretty unnoticed until I joined the military."

"If your age had been-"

"What? Is that why you looked up the laws? Does it bother you that much?" He paused at the reaction and sat next to her. She scooted away to face him fully.

"I was merely stating the possible consequences for lying about your age as you did. It was extremely dangerous. Doctor McCoy was… kind to not report you." She was silent for a moment before sighing.

"You talked to Bones too, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"… Why didn't you just ask me?"

"I did not wish to upset you."

"And going behind my back wasn't going to upset me?" He paused again.

"I had not considered that. Earlier you had gotten upset talking of your past; I merely wished to avoid a similar situation." Her brow furrowed and he pulled her close to hold her. "My apologies for upsetting you. I will be sure to speak with you first from now on." She sighed again before smiling lightly up at him.

"All right. I can't stay too mad for long, especially with you, anyway."

"That is fortunate." She grinned.

"It's because you're an amazing kisser." He raised a brow before kissing her slowly, lacing their fingers together. His other hand went up to cradle her face and she jolted at the sudden odd feeling in her mind. He instantly pulled away completely and she stared at him, confounded.

"My apologies. I did not mean to do that."

"What? What did you do? What was that?"

"… I invaded your mind. Vulcans have the ability to mind meld. It is the joining of my mind to another. It is a very… intimate thing to do and should not be taken lightly."

"… So it would be a bad thing to do with me? Is there something about this that I'm not getting?"

"If done at certain times or with someone that I have a strong connection to it could possibly result in a mental bond. I can prevent one, but it can be difficult." She tilted her head.

"And that's a bad thing?" He glanced at her, puzzled.

"It would be inappropriate. A fully formed bond can be similar to a marriage for Vulcans. And initiating a meld on someone without permission or adequate reason is a crime." She was quiet for a moment before smiling lightly.

"Well… since you can mind meld without ending with a bond… did you want to try it with me?" Spock watched her for a moment before shaking his head slightly.

"No… I said it was possible, not that I was strong enough to prevent it like that."

"But you're very strong." He glanced away from her.

"Not with you. Unfortunately, I would not wish to prevent a bond enough. I am 89.98 percent certain that one would form if I melded with you." Scythe paused for a while before smiling happily.

"You love me?"

"… That would be an accurate way to describe it." She grabbed his hand and kissed the palm before moving and kissing each finger, making his eyes widen as he shivered slightly.

"I love you too… There's still a 10.02 percent chance you'd be able to stop a bond if it bothers you so much."

"I… I must correct my earlier calculation…" He closed his eyes as she kissed along his hand again. "Instead of 89.98 percent it would be a 99 percent chance of forming a bond with you." She pulled away to look at him.

"What exactly is a bond? How does it link your mind?" He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"I would be able to know of your emotions and you would feel mine. We would be able to speak with each other on occasion and if you were hurt I would be able to feel it if the bond was not blocked. You would feel any pain I had as well."

"I'd… I'd feel your emotions?"

"Yes."

"… I wouldn't be able to hide anything from you, would I?"

"You could. I can show you how to block your mind from a bond. However, during a meld it would be extremely difficult. It would be unlikely; however it is possible." She frowned and sat away from him.

"Guess there won't be a meld then." Spock's head tilted slightly.

"You are hiding something from me?"

"… I just don't really want you to know everything. My past for example…"

"I know you were a soldier." She sighed.

"… I've done some bad things Spock."

"Such as?" She stood up and faced away from him.

"Such as killing. I don't want you to know that. Who it was, how I did it… if there were other options…" She quieted and hung her head, wrapping her arms around herself. Spock went over to her only to have her pull away with a shake of her head. "I need to see Bones." She walked out slowly and headed to sickbay, never even looking up. Bones started to glare when she walked in but his look turned concerned at her expression.

"Scythe? What's wrong? Did something happen?" He put a hand on her shoulder and she shook her head.

"I'm a horrible person… After everything I've done…"

"Whoa, hold it. How are you a horrible person? You haven't done anything wrong."

"Yes I have! I always have! Every since I was a child… And then the military…" She crouched down with her head in her hands and Bones knelt next her quietly.

"That was a long time ago Scythe. And in the military you were following orders."

"… I wasn't talking about the orders. It's when I wasn't under orders that worries me."

"It was still a long time ago." She shook her head.

"It was still me. I can't even apologies to those that didn't die because they're dead now. I… I'm not good enough."

"What are you talking about? Good enough for what?"

"Anything… Spock…"

"Spock?! You think you're not good enough for that hobgoblin?!" He grabbed her and forced her to look at him. "Listen to me Scythe, there has never been anything you were not good enough for. And there never will be. Besides," He smiled, "he's not good enough for you. Especially if that question even crosses your mind." She sighed and smiled at him shakily.

"I still feel bad. Even you don't know everything, and… Spock told me about mind melds and everything. And about mental bonds. I wouldn't be able to hide it from him and I don't want him to see how I was. Everything I did…" She sighed again and looked away. "Did you want to know?"

"Not if you don't want to talk about it."

"I should. I… really want to try a meld with Spock. Even though he said it would most likely result in a bond."

"Hold up… Isn't a bond similar to marriage for Vulcans?"

"Yes. Why?" Bones was silent before getting up, anger practically radiating off him.

"I'll kill him." Scythe stared at him until he started to move.

"I killed children." Bones stopped and looked back at her.

"Why?"

"They were in the way. I should've just moved them, but I was in pursuit of someone… don't even remember who. I took the quickest and easiest route. It happened more often than I'd like to admit. Not just children either." He just stared at her for awhile before kneeling back down with a sigh.

"Scythe… We've both done things we're not proud of, but we can't let it stop us from living our lives. It was a long time ago and if you… want to meld with Spock or whatever you should. He's not going to hate you for your past if he loves you now." She blinked at him before smiling.

"Thanks Bones… You think he loves me that much?"

"Don't push it. I was just trying to cheer you up."

"Yeah, but you're not one to lie about it like that."

"I said if. Remember that part? Don't start thinking I'm okay with this situation 'cause I ain't." She got up and grinned at him.

"I know that. Because you love me, right?" He rolled his eyes and she laughed. "I'm gonna talk to Spock. See you later." She left and Bones groaned.

"I'm going to regret this. And he better damn well love her."

Scythe quietly snuck back into Spock's room and smiled when she saw him on the floor again. She snuck over to sit across from him and wait. When he opened his eyes nearly two hours later she was laying on the floor, sound asleep. He watched her for a moment before reaching over, his hand hovering over her face. He stayed like that for a moment before reached down and shaking her shoulder lightly. She slowly blinked up at him and smiled.

"Spock… Sorry, I fell asleep." He nodded once and moved so she could get up. She stretched and sat up. "About earlier Spock…"

"I can understand your reluctance to inform me of your life." She shook her head and jumped up, grabbing onto his shirt.

"That's not it. I… I'm willing to try. Meld with me Spock… Just don't hate me."

"It is not possible for me to hate you Scythe." She sighed and smiled lightly.

"Artemis." His head tilted and she smiled fully. "My name, it's Artemis."

"Artemis…" She laughed.

"I've always hated being called that, but when you say it… I like it."

"Then I shall endeavor to call you by it more often."

"Just be careful not to all the time… Scythe still does fit me better." He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Then it will be for me alone." He paused to look at her. "Does Doctor McCoy not call you by your name?"

"No… He knows it and will on occasion, but he knows I don't like it." She smiled and kissed him gently. "You can meld with me if you want. I don't mind." She pulled away and sat on the bed. "It's up to you Spock."

"Scy-Artemis, I have previously informed you of the consequences that could result from melding with you."

"Why did you try to in the first place then?"

"I was not thinking of what should or should not be done. It was my fault."

"Do you love me?"

"… Yes."

"Enough to stay with me? Regardless of the terrible things I have done in the past?"

"Of course."

"… Do you want to? Do you want to be with me? Completely?"

"Artemis, I do not believe we-"

"Why not? It can't be because either of us are too young, or because it isn't allowed. As far as I know if we both consent it's fine." She paused for a minute before smiling. "I love you Spock… More than anything. More than I love the gym." Spock went over and kissed her at that, quickly finding the meld points and beginning it.

Scythe gasped and fell backwards a few hours later, staring up at him. Spock's eyes were wide as he watched her. She shivered and slowly calmed her breathing before sitting back up.

"That… was intense. I didn't expect it to be like that…" She glanced at him sadly. "Sorry… You probably regret being with me now, huh?" He kissed her suddenly, pushing her down in the process.

"I will never regret you." She paused before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him happily. They didn't leave the room for the rest of the night.

Scythe yawned on her way to sickbay a week later for her physical. She stood outside the door for a while before groaning and entering. She glanced around before going to the office to find Bones. He glanced up at her when she entered and she grinned.

"Hey Bones. How've you been?"

"Perfectly fine other than the constant concern over you most likely doing something idiotic."

"I haven't done anything idiotic!"

"Did you meld with him?"

"Yes, but you knew I was going to."

"Did you bond?"

"No actually. He managed to prevent it." Bones nodded and stood up to face her.

"Did you have sex?" His face stayed serious and Scythe calmly looked back at him.

"No. Didn't make it that far. Don't worry, I did promise you details if and when it happens." She smirked and went back out. Bones smirked back once she sat on a bed.

"You know, aggravating me right before your physical wasn't the best idea." She shrugged.

"I'm sure I've dealt with worse. Besides, you would've gotten mad no matter what I said."

"Could've made it easier on yourself."

"I could be bonded and having sex too." He glared and started the physical, making sure to be as grueling as possible. When it was finished she almost glared at him before suddenly laughing.

"What could you possibly find so amusing?"

"The fact that you get so angry about me dating Spock and try to make me miserable while wanting me to be happy." She smiled wistfully. "And I know that no matter how upset I get or annoying the physicals are, Spock will make me feel better later." Bones sighed and clasped her shoulder.

"I give up. Do what you want with him, but if it ends badly I reserve the right to kick his ass and/or kill him."

"No killing."

"… Fine." He smiled at her. "I'm glad you're happy with him."

"So… does this mean you'll stop antagonizing us about it?" He rolled his eyes at her grin.

"Yeah, I'll be nice… ish" She laughed and hugged him.

"Coming from you, that's a miracle."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get hurt or pregnant, ok?" She pulled away with a grin.

"I'll be careful, but either way you'll probably be the first to know." He shoved her.

"Get out of here."

"Hey! You didn't tell me if I'm healthy or not!"

"You're fine. Even at a healthy weight for once."

"Really? I am? I'm still at an acceptable weight?"

"Yeah, 109 pounds. Now I have work to do, so get out." She grinned and left to go start her shift, getting told on her way down that she was scheduled to go down to the next planet in a few days. Once she got to the gym finally John smiled and waved her over.

"Hey Scythe, I have a physical today so you're in charge of training and setting up the schedule for the next two weeks."

"Sure. I just had a physical so he probably isn't in the best mood. Good luck." He groaned and left as she laughed. She turned to the waiting group with a smile. "Guess we're doing things my way today." She waited for the collective groan to be finished before continuing. "First things first; five laps around the gym and no dawdling. This will help decide who's going to be doing what this week." No one moved and she raised a brow. "Well? Get started. Waiting around to be told to move could get you killed." They all glanced at each other before starting to move. She rolled her eyes and followed them, making sure to keep pace with them to watch for laziness. Once they finished she rubbed her temple and looked over them. "Okay… I know you can do better than that, but whatever. I'm not going to try and force you to improve if you don't want to. Just keep in mind that if you can't do your job, get injured, or get killed it's your fault for slacking off." She turned and went to sort out the schedule, waving a hand behind her. "Target practice until I get back."

Ten hours later found her ready to bang her head against a wall to see how long it would take to pass out. She swept her eyes over the remaining five security and sighed before going up to them without even trying to smile.

"Okay… Since John never decided to come back I'm going to have you decide who takes which shifts for the night. Have fun."

"Shouldn't you make sure we do it?"

"I think if you don't do it you're going to be on the receiving end of a phaser." She grinned dangerously and turned to leave with a final wave. She slowly made her way through the halls with a yawn, pausing outside of sickbay. She stood there for a minute debating whether or not to ask for something to wake her up before rolling her eyes and continuing back to Spock's room. She typed in the code twice before remembering he had told her to meet him for lunch because he was changing the code. She groaned and called him three times before going to Jim's room. He didn't answer either and she went back to sickbay. She frowned at the eerie quiet and crept over to the office. She peeked in before her eyes widened and she knelt down next to Bones. She shook him roughly and he groaned, opening his eyes blearily.

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**How cute! ^^ Uh-oh, why's it so quiet?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay everyone! Final chapter! Enjoy it! ^^**

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"… Scythe?" She let out a relieved breath and stood back up. He sat up and looked at her. "What happened?"

"I was about to ask you that… Oh! What if everyone's out? I've been really tired for the last few minutes, unusually so. And I can't get a hold of Jim or Spock."

"Go find out."

"How? I can't get into their rooms." He grabbed a marker and her hand, quickly writing down the override and pushing her towards the door.

"Go. I need to know if something just hit me, or if this is effecting the ship. Bring them here if they're out." She nodded and ran out, heading straight to Spock's room. She let herself in and looked around before kneeling down behind the desk with a sigh.

"Spock? Spock wake up. Come on Spock…" She shook him before giving up and picking him up and heading to Jim's room. Finding a similar situation she flung him over her shoulder and went back down to sickbay. She carefully put them on beds and slumped to the floor. "Bones? I'm so tired…" Her eyes drooped and he smacked her. She jumped up and glared at him. "What?!"

"You need to stay awake. If they're out everyone else probably is too. Do you have any idea how to run the ship? Maneuver it or anything?" She shook her head.

"No, I'm pretty much useless."

"No you're not. Go get someone else. Between these two we have two extremes. I need a… normal one." She shrugged and headed out with a yawn. A few minutes later and she came back with John.

"Here you go. One normal." He nodded and tossed her a needle.

"Draw some blood from him." She did as instructed and stood back, letting him work. He finally shoved her out to monitor the ship and let him know if any problems arose. She yawned once on the bridge and sat in Jim's chair. Half an hour later and her eyes shot open to a loud beeping. She pressed a few buttons and an alert popped up on the screen. She groaned and called Bones.

"We have a problem here."

"Of course we do. What is it?"

"An alert of a slight power failure and other ships in the vicinity." She hit a few more buttons and sighed. "Was it Klingons that aren't friendly?"

"Yes, why?"

"The other ships are Klingon." Bones swore.

"All right Scythe, I need you to cloak the ship and put the shields on full power. Do you know how?"

"I think I can do the shields. Here, let me try." She messed with a few more things before smiling. "Got the shields up. How do I cloak the ship?" Bones paused before answering.

"Route control down to me. It's pretty simple to do that." She looked around with a sigh.

"Okay… How do I do that?" He gave her the quick run down and she followed his instructions carefully. A moment later and a notification appeared telling her the ship was cloaked.

"Good job Scythe. Now I need you down here." She groaned and hauled herself up to head down. A few minutes later she leaned in the doorway.

"Why am I so tired?"

"Because if we weren't superhuman we'd be asleep." She sighed and went over to him, hardly flinching when he drew her blood and stuck her with a hypo.

"That tells me nothing… I'm assuming I'm the guinea pig."

"Great assumption. How do you feel?" She shrugged.

"Tired still. Any idea what's wrong?"

"Not a clue. I tested something else out on myself all ready. So far no luck. Wait fifteen minutes and I'll try something else." She nodded and went to sit on a bed. Bones came out fifteen minutes later and rolled his eyes when he saw her asleep. He woke her by sticking her with another hypo.

"What the hell?!"

"If that doesn't work I need you to try and wake Spock. I could use some help and he'll probably be the easiest to rouse." She flopped back down onto the bed.

"I don't even want to move right now."

"And I do? … Get up! You got two minutes to finish the job! Go!" She jumped off the bed before glaring at him.

"I hate you." She went and shook Spock for a minute before caressing his hands. When that didn't work she kissed him, continuing to massage his hands. She pulled away a few seconds later. "Spock… Come on Spock, you need to wake up. Bones needs your help… I need you to wake up." She gently spoke while slightly shaking his shoulder. She smiled when his head turned and his eyes slowly opened to look at her.

"… What is wrong?" His eyes started to close again and she shook him.

"Do not fall back asleep Spock. I am so useless right now and we need your help." She helped him sit up, making sure he didn't fall back.

"What is the problem?"

"Everyone's asleep. Bones can't quite figure out what's wrong, there are a few slight power failures, and there are a couple Klingon ships nearby. I managed to get the shields up and Bones cloaked the ship." He nodded and slowly stood, Scythe helping to keep him steady. She escorted him to the office and Bones glanced up at him before continuing to work.

"Get over here hobgoblin. Basic ship control has been routed down here so you should switch it back and get up there to run the ship. Scythe's going with you to help out and keep you awake." Spock nodded and switched control back to the bridge before heading out. He nearly toppled over in the doorway, making Scythe catch him.

"Thank you Artemis." She nodded and continued helping him out. Bones had glanced up sharply when he spoke and watched them leave in shock.

Scythe led Spock to Jim's chair and sat in Sulu's spot to keep an eye on him as he worked. Half an hour later and she got up to stretch and walk around, patting Spock's shoulder as she passed. He grabbed her hand when she passed by him a second time and she glanced at him tiredly.

"Artemis, you should go assist Doctor McCoy."

"He told me to make sure you stay awake and help out if needed."

"… We are surrounded by Klingon ships and any unnecessary movement will alert them to our presence. There is nothing for me to do other than make sure the ship stays running properly. You need not assist me with that."

"… But what if you fall asleep again?"

"I will contact you if I begin to."

"Promise?"

"Yes." She sighed.

"All right, but if he yells at me I'm blaming you." He nodded and she headed back down to sickbay. She went into the office and he raised a brow at her.

"You're supposed to be keeping Spock awake."

"He told me to come help you. He'll call if he starts to doze off." She yawned. "Any luck yet?"

"I may have found a way to cure everyone, but I can't explain what happened in the first place. Want to be a guinea pig again?"

"I get a choice?" He smiled.

"Not really. Get over here." She sat next to him and he gave her the hypo. "So… He knows your name now?"

"Yeah; I told him before the meld. I don't mind him calling me it much and he doesn't all the time." Bones nodded and stretched.

"Trying to make me jealous or something?" She laughed.

"Didn't even cross my mind… Hey! I'm awake!" He grabbed the tricorder and ran it over her.

"Great, now I just need to figure out what dosage to give everyone else and find out what caused the problem in the first place and if there are any side effects. Well?"

"… Side effects? Like what?"

"You tell me." She shrugged and got up, instantly toppling over.

"Okay… How about lack of strength?" She scowled as he picked her up and ran the tricorder over her again.

"That's strange…" He went and checked over Jim and John. "Damn it."

"What is it?"

"I managed to wake you up, but not stop whatever is effecting you. The lack of strength isn't a side effect, it's a symptom."

"Well fix it! This isn't exactly fun!" He wobbled and headed back over to her, falling into the chair.

"It's not as bad in them. Whatever it is, it's hitting us hard."

"Yet we're the only ones managing to stay awake." Her eyes widened. "Reaps, what if sleeping was a way to slow the effects, or get rid of the bug?"

"But the 'bug' is what caused everyone to fall asleep in the first place."

"Okay… How about it isn't something bad? Maybe it makes people sleep to heal them from anything that ails them?"

"Then it can't be good for everyone… We need to try and wake a human up."

"Why?"

"Because if you're right than it might be okay for them, but they wouldn't be able to wake. Which means it's dangerous for anyone else."

"I could be wrong though."

"I know, but now I have to check for that too." He left and she heard him shouting and something fall on the floor. A moment later he came back in. "Jim won't wake up."

"Wait… are you saying that I'm right?"

"It's possible, but it's strange that we hit something like that… Humans must be somewhere else in this part of the universe or something fundamentally the same. It could even be a way to stop others from going further."

"So… racists? Or, well, species-ist?"

"Possibly."

"Um… What about Spock?"

"He's awake isn't he?" Scythe frowned and pushed herself up, straining to stand. She finally managed it and headed to the door.

"There is nothing you can do for him. Stay here and help me try and fix it." She looked longingly at the door before sighing.

"Yes sir. What do you need me to do?"

"Get back over here and help me find a way to get rid of this bug."

"I'm not smart enough for that."

"Then rely on dumb luck. You can try and help me find similarities in blood samples and will be a guinea pig." She grabbed a telescope with a nod.

"Just warn me when you're going to stick me with something, okay?" He didn't answer her and she began going searching through the samples. A few minutes later and she glanced at him. "Hey, should we help the Klingons?"

"What?"

"Well… They're not human either right? So won't they be asleep too? Or really tired and weak at least?" Bones groaned and leaned back.

"We can't. There isn't enough people to spare to send anyone over." Scythe nodded and started to look through the telescope again before her head snapped up.

"Hold up. If they're an enemy would it really be past them to use biological warfare? Could they have known we were here and gave us this thing so as to destroy the ship or let us spiral out of control?" Bones growled and pointed to the door.

"It's just crazy enough to be possible. Get to the transporter room. I'll have Spock beam you over there. Get in, look around, get a cure if your theory is correct, and get out. Do not engage."

"Yes sir!" She bolted out of the room as Bones called Spock.

Spock met her in the transporter room and she smiled at him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get this all figured out soon."

"You should not be going to the Klingon ship."

"We need answers. I am not a medical officer nor a science officer. At the moment my only use is to test out whatever Bones comes up with. There is no one else that can do this."

"You cannot defeat an entire Klingon crew on your own."

"I'm not fighting them. I'm collecting data and getting out. Just be ready to beam me back when I contact you."

"Artemis-"

"Spock, the longer we wait the more chance of something going wrong or for whatever is affecting us to leave permanent damage. There is far more at stake than my wellbeing."

"It is not safe."

"Nothing's safe…" She sighed and got onto the transporter pad. "Olduvai wasn't safe either, and I managed well enough there for a much longer time." He nodded curtly once and went to the controls. She crouched down and smiled at him as he sent her over.

Scythe cautiously looked around her as a chill ran down her spine. Seeing no one she straightened and began to look around. After wandering for a few minutes she heard voices and crept closer to the open door.

"…. long? … ready … Silence!" Scythe peeked around the doorframe and saw a small group of Klingons watching the Enterprise on a screen. She ducked her head back and settled down to listen.

"This is taking too long. It should be done now! Why is it not uncloaked and off course? The virus did not take so long in our tests!"

"Sir, perhaps the Vulcan" he spat the word out, "has managed to stay alert. But even he should be out by now. I am sure the ship will start to fail soon. And then we can take it."

Scythe had heard enough. She quickly backed away from the meeting room and dashed down the halls until finding what she assumed was the medical room. Using years of practiced stealth, she stole inside and sorted through everything until finding what she wanted. An antidote, and the virus. Reading on the way, she dashed back to the meeting room with a devilish smirk. Just outside the doors she contacted Spock and told him to wait eight seconds before beaming her back.

One: She stepped into the room as they laughed about how pathetic humans were.

Two: "Sorry to interrupt, but unfortunately for you I can be a vindictive person."

Three: The group turned around with glares, reaching for weapons.

Four: She tied a cloth around her mouth and held up the virus.

Five: The group realized what she was holding.

Six: They stepped towards her and her fingers loosened.

Seven: The vial crashed to the ground and released the airborne virus. The group screamed at her.

Eight: Scythe waved as they wobbled, their eyes closing against their will.

Spock raised a brow at her grin before she held up the antidote. He followed her down to sickbay where she handed it to Bones before turning to him with a shrug.

"They wanted us to spin out of control and then take the ship as a prize. The cowards didn't want to fully fight us."

"If they had it would be taken as an act of war. Taking the ship once they crew was incapacitated by illness would not be." Scythe scowled for a second before a small smile worked its way on her face.

"Oh well, doesn't matter now."

"The fact that they had the antidote is proof that they attacked us. Why does it not matter?" Spock watched her closely before Bones came out and hit them both with a hypo before smacking her on the head.

"Hey!"

"What did you do?" He turned away to help everyone else, but she knew he was listening.

"I heard them talking about having given the virus to us and then I found the antidote and sitting next to it was the virus. It was an airborne type by the way. So… I had Spock count to eight before beaming me back and I dropped the virus. Right in their meeting room with them." Bones shot a glare at her and she shrugged, unabashed. "They shouldn't have attacked us. Or gloated… or spit out the word…" She quieted and left the room, leaving them to explain everything to the waking crew.

An hour later Spock made his way down to the gym. John met him outside, having been guarding the door until he got there. With a nod, John left in a hurry, obviously relieved. Spock raised a brow before opening the door to reveal what had unnerved him. The room was a wreck; the walls had dents in them and most of the equipment was in pieces. Scythe was curled up in a corner, her head buried in her knees. Spock carefully made his way over to her and kneeled down, putting a hand on her shoulder. She jolted and her head whipped towards him, any angry remarks dying on her lips. Her anger and frustration drained slowly from her face until only shame was left and she rested her chin on her arms, staring at the walls.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was small. "I just…" She sighed, "The way they talked; like we were trash. And how the bastards spit out the word Vulcan… I couldn't help but get some sort of revenge. I shouldn't have though."

"You were angry at yourself?"

"Yeah…" She looked up at him for a while before minutely smiling. "I scared John away, but you seem okay." Her eyes slid closed as she leaned against him. "Reaps… er, Bones is mad at me." She sighed. "Maybe it'd been better if I'd stayed on Olduvai. He wouldn't have to worry so much., I would be able to take out any frustration on monsters, and the walls wouldn't get dented." Spock stiffened next to her and she looked up.

"It is better for you here."

"True, but I'm not worried about me. Bones was so well adjusted and then I happen to still be alive and turn everything around."

"Doctor McCoy is fine." Scythe frowned and turned around to face him.

"I've managed to upset even you. How can things be all right?" He looked calmly back at her.

"I much prefer having you here, even with your inability to control yourself." There was a pause as his words registered. Her head tilted.

"That sounds like either a compliment, you love me, or both… Or you're saying I have absolutely no self control and it's so different from you that I could be studied."

"I have no need to study you." Scythe smiled and crawled closer.

"So you love me." She kissed him chastely at his nod. "So… even though you have no need to, I'm sure there's still some things left to study with me." She kissed him again, just not so chaste of one. When they pulled apart she grinned. "I'll clean this up later." With that, she led him out of the gym.

Two weeks later found Scythe sitting on a bed in sickbay, not so patiently waiting for Bones. When he finally showed up she hopped off the bed with a grin. He ignored her and she followed him into the office where he finally turned to look at her.

"What do you want?"

"I've been trying to find time to talk to you for weeks. Are you avoiding me?"

"No."

"… Is it because I infected the Klingons? Or basically ruined the gym? Because I cleaned that one up."

"I'm not avoiding you Scythe." He turned away and began to look through some hypos and she frowned.

"Could've fooled me. Are you too busy to talk to me now?"

"Yes." Scythe's shoulders slumped.

"Why are you so mad at me? Come on Reaper…" He shot a glare at her and she winced. "Sorry, I meant Bones."

"I am not mad at you."

"Yes you are!"

"Artemis I do not have time to play games with you!" There was silence as Scythe hastily took a few steps back. After another minute or so she turned to leave.

"I'm… sorry. I guess I'll talk to you later." She sullenly made her way back to Spock's room and slumped onto the bed.

"Artemis? Were you not going to speak with Doctor McCoy today?"

"I tried. He's busy." Spock set his work down and went over to sit on the bed next to her.

"Does this upset you?" He heard her sigh again as she turned to look at him.

"In a way. I think he's avoiding me, but I don't know why. And when I questioned him about it he yelled at me. Are people sick right now and I just don't know about it?"

"I do not believe so." Scythe sat up and leaned against him sadly.

"What have I done wrong now Spock?"

"You have done nothing wrong. It is illogical for Doctor McCoy to be upset with you." He paused to wrap an arm around her. "Did you wish for me speak with him?" She smiled and kissed his neck.

"I'm afraid that would be detrimental to your health. Are you done working?"

"My work can wait until tomorrow."

"Oh good, I would hate to distract you from that."

"Yet you seem to do so often." Scythe grinned and kissed his cheek.

"Perhaps… Distracting you does have its merits after all." Spock nodded and turned to kiss her fully as she pulled him down closer to her.

It took two more weeks before Scythe finally managed to get Bones to sit and talk with her. She had waited in sickbay all afternoon before he finally showed up, sighing when he saw her. She glared at him and pointed to a chair.

"I don't care if you're busy or not anymore. Sit down and talk to me. Now I'm sick and absolutely need to talk to you!" He groaned, but sat next to her, taking out a tricorder.

"All right Scythe, what's wrong with you?"

"I've been throwing up for the past three days. Oh, and on side note, four weeks ago I had sex with Spock. Did you actually want details or can you please just diagnose me?"

"YOU WHAT?!"

"I would've told you sooner if you hadn't been avoiding me." He stared at her with wide eyes before shaking his head.

"Fine, we'll talk about how I'm skinning Spock later. You said you've been throwing up often?"

"Yeah, and it really sucks. I didn't think I could get really sick anymore so I don't know what's wrong. It's really bothering me and I think it's starting to worry Spock now."

"I really don't care if the hobgoblin's worried."

"I love that hobgoblin Bones." He waved her off and ran the tricorder over her, soon doing it again, and then a third time before suddenly throwing it against a wall. Scythe jumped off the bed in shock and stared at him.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"Bones? What are you talking about? What's going on? Hey!" She yelled at him and he marched out of sickbay. Scythe glanced at the broken tricorder before running after him, grabbing onto his arm before he could reach Spock's room. "Wait one minute! What is going on? Why are you mad at him again?" He spun around furiously and grabbed her shoulders.

"You are sick because of him. Do you understand?"

"No, I don't!" Bones took a deep breath and forced his shoulders to relax.

"Scythe, you're pregnant." She stared at him blankly.

"I'm… what? Is this a joke?"

"I'm dead serious."

"But… I can still get pregnant? Even after all the shit I've been through?"

"Apparently. The 24th chromosome doesn't dry you up you know."

"I wasn't even talking about that!"

"It does heal you Scythe…" He suddenly sounded tired and she nodded.

"Okay… I… would never have guessed…" She looked up at him and barely smiled. "You should get some rest. You seem tired."

"You're going to talk to Spock I take it."

"Well, I kind of have to now. Um… is there anything special I should be doing?" He sighed.

"Just meet me tomorrow morning. I'll go over everything then… and be careful Scythe." She nodded absently and he walked back to sickbay. She stood there for a while before going back into Spock's room and laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling until finally falling into a fitful sleep.

Scythe sat up three hours later to find that Spock was at the desk. He didn't say anything until she sat across from him.

"Did you manage to speak with Doctor McCoy today?"

"Yeah…" When she didn't continue he raised a brow and set his padd aside.

"Is there a problem?"

"Well, he's mad that I slept with you of course."

"Did he say what has made you ill?" Scythe looked down and nodded slightly.

"Yeah, he's mad at you for that too. Apparently, I'm pregnant." The was a long silence after that and she finally looked up to see him hastily regaining his composure.

"That… does that explain you illness of late?"

"Well, yeah. Morning sickness and all."

"… I must apologize, I seem to know very little on the subject." Scythe stared at him for a minute before smiling.

"Guess it's a good time to learn. Would you like to accompany me to sickbay in the morning so Bones can lecture us both?"

"I am unsure whether the doctor would be willing to speak with me."

"I don't think he has much choice anymore… So, you're not mad?"

"Should I be?"

"Well… my being pregnant reflects back on you, doesn't it? I don't want you to get in trouble or have a bad reputation or anything." Spock walked over to kneel next to her.

"It is highly unlikely that I will get into any trouble from anyone other than Doctor McCoy. Your being pregnant is unexpected, but not completely unwelcome." Scythe couldn't help grinning and scooting off to the chair to hug him.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you."

"And I you Artemis." He whispered as he found the meld points.

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**Ah! So cute there! Anywho, hope you enjoyed this story! Feel free to read my other ones if you so fancy! Ta!**


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